Teacher's Pet: Revamp
by RegalChromaggia69
Summary: Emma Swan is entering her senior year of high school in hopes to get perfect grades for a promised Bug, but is faced with a teacher dubbed The Evil Queen. What will she do? /As the title goes, this will be a revamped/revised version of Teacher's Pet. I am uploading this as per request./ SQ. Implied RB. Student/Teacher AU. Rated M. Updated: 4/05/2017 (Disaster no matter what)
1. The First Day

It was that day of the year again; that very day that marked the end of summer vacation as the school bells tolled. It had been hot this summer, leaving little days to be enjoyed. This day was no exception, even though, as Emma Swan would have thought it to be, the end of summer. On the contrary, there were still a few days to be milked out of summer even though school was starting.

But still, this day would be the end of the late nights playing video games with her friend, Graham. The two wanted to spend time with each other over the summer since he would be moving to Boston for college. It would also end the nights out with Ruby, and sometimes Belle, as they went about town, trying to make the most of their summer.

Although, now, it was all over. Emma couldn't sleep in until noon every day. Instead, she had to wake up in the early morning, a time she sometimes went to bed after playing a marathon of her favorite game.

The morning hour of seven o'clock caused the blonde teen to groan as she hit the dismiss button on her phone.

 _School._

Emma took the liberty to dub Storybrooke High as Hell.

Muttering profanities for the cursed morning, Emma dragged herself out of bed and picked out an outfit consisting of a dark pair of denim jeans and a simple white, cotton T-shirt. Though she paused, eyes falling to a thick, black sweater that hung on a lone hanger in her closet. It may have looked impractical that she would even contemplate wearing such attire outside in this sweltering heat, but the school was like Antarctica inside. She wasn't sure if the people who were in control of the temperature inside of the school had a reason to keep the air chilly, or not, but she wasn't about to let that thought seep into her bones for she quickly grabbed the hooded sweater and threw it on.

Shaking those thoughts from her head, she picked up her phone and checked if she had any messages. Ruby had promised to text her in the morning before her shift started at her grandmother's diner.

Despite graduating from high school, the brunette girl had decided to stay in Storybrooke to help her elderly grandmother with the diner. Of course, her granny had insisted that she hadn't needed the help, although the collapse in the storage room a month prior had told otherwise.

Emma was glad that she wasn't leaving, although that may have been selfish of her. She only had Belle to talk with in school now, and with Graham's departure, she had no one else outside of school to hang out with.

Speaking of Ruby, a smile crossed over her face as she saw a text from said girl.

 _ **Hey, Em. Ready for a new day in Hell?**_

 _Yeah. Right._

Emma hit send and set her phone down so she could quickly strip from her sleeping attire to don the casual clothing that she set out. Then her phone buzzed again, lighting up with a new message from Ruby.

The blonde teenager dropped onto her small, twin-sized bed with a pair of boots. Simultaneously checking the message and pulling her boots on, she read what her friend had replied.

 _ **Good luck. Sorry I can't be there.**_

Emma smiled sadly and replied with an: _it's okay, I'll survive._

There soon was a knock on the wall of Emma's bedroom, which had made the blonde look up. A woman with short, black hair stood in the doorway with a friendly smile on her face, and the clothes she wore were pastel and conservative. The woman standing there was her adoptive mother, Mary Margaret.

"Hey," the blonde greeted the woman in her doorway with a smile.

"Are you ready for your first day of senior year?" Mary Margaret asked, pushing herself from the doorframe. "You look pretty."

Emma blushed slightly at her comment as a slender finger flicked a blonde curl from her face before cupping a cheek. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"I made breakfast. Might as well eat before we head off to school." She chuckled.

"I guess." Emma shrugged slightly and bent to grab her backpack that leaned against the bed. She slung the bag over her shoulder and walked behind her mother.

"At least take a piece of toast before you leave." The brunette woman pleaded.

"Fine." Emma playfully rolled her eyes. "For you."

"Thank you, Emma." Mary Margaret quickly wrapped her arms around Emma, leaving the teenager to stiffen momentarily before awkwardly hugging her back. "See you later, okay? I love you. Have a good day and tell me about your classes when you get home!"

"Love you, too and I will!" The blonde sheepishly replied, pulling away so she could do just that. Footsteps behind her told Emma that Mary Margaret was following on her trail towards the kitchen, probably to make sure that she would grab that toast.

After toasting up a piece of bread, Emma quickly left the apartment and started on her way to school. She preferred to walk, even though Mary Margaret had offered many times to drive her since the high school was only a few blocks before the elementary school. Emma had politely declined until wintertime when the pixie-haired woman had insisted on taking her to school.

Ofttimes, she carpooled with Ruby, but since her friend had graduated, she was out of luck. And right now, she really wished that Ruby was still attending school because it was hot as hell and she was already drowning in her own sweat. Slowly, she regretted ever putting on this damn sweater.

After what seemed like an eternity swimming in her own sweat, Emma had finally arrived. Students were scattered through the halls, most standing and chatting with friends that they hadn't seen over the summer. The myriad of voices in the air very nearly gave Emma a headache.

She made haste to get away from the crowd, maneuvering every which way so she could get through to her homeroom. She hoped not many people would be in there right away. Silence already seemed so nice. With that on the brain, she continued to push through the people stuffed in the main hallway, but not before she had run right into another body. Or so to say, they ran into her.

"Watch it," a voice warned, but then stopped as eyes met her own. "Emma!"

" _Killian_." Emma muttered through her teeth, forcing a smile on her lips.

"Fancy seeing you here." The dark-haired boy greeted, a grin appearing on his scruffy face.

"It's school. Of course I'm here." Emma had to keep herself from rolling her eyes. She didn't exactly count the boy as her friend, but he wasn't exactly an acquaintance, either.

"Where are you headed?"

"Homeroom."

"Oh? Ms. Nova isn't in there."

Emma mentally rolled her eyes. That's where it had all started: _homeroom_. He had the same one as she and was seated next to the desk that she was assigned. From that day forward, he had never left her alone.

"She usually has her door unlocked." The blonde clucked, irritation already setting in.

"It's locked."

"Where's your stuff, then?" The blonde quirked a brow, finally looking over the boy in front of her. He had nothing on him. Not even a pencil.

"Uh…"

"Yeah. Move. I wanna get my schedule." She pushed passed him, hoisting her backpack further onto her shoulder as it began to slip.

"Yeah! I wonder if we have any classes together." His brows waggled as he caught up with her.

Emma looked at him and rolled her eyes. "Knowing you, probably. You stole my scheduling sheet before the break."

" _Pft_." Killian smirked and followed her into Ms. Nova's classroom.

"Emma Nolan!" A light, cheery voice greeted the blonde as soon as she dropped her bag by the desk in the back of the room. She rose her head to see Ms. Nova step toward her with a piece of paper in hand.

"I prefer Swan," she corrected.

"Right. I'm sorry. I was just reading the name on the schedule." She smiled, handing the paper over to Emma. "Are you excited for senior year?"

"As excited as I'll ever be." She drawled in response, her eyes glued to the paper. "Thanks."

"Of course!"

"What do you have first period?" Killian's voice immediately broke the momentary silence as Ms. Nova walked away.

"First period I have English," she said, looking up at his crestfallen face. "What? Don't have it?"

"Not this semester." A small pout formed on his lips. "What else do you have?"

"I have algebra two-"

"I have that, too! Second with Mr. Spencer?"

"Yeah…" Emma glared at him before continuing. "Then I have gym. And after that creative writing, lunch, my government class, and finally some art class that Belle's taking."

"What?" Killian looked at her with wide eyes. "All I have is gym and comp. When do you have them? Who do you have?"

"Stop asking all these questions! You're giving me a headache." Emma grumbled, looking at the paper for names. "I have Mr. Hurst for gym and Mrs… Mills?"

"Oh. You got Ms. Mills." He looked at her sympathetically.

"Why, because you don't?" she teased.

"No. Because she's a bitch and she grades like one, too."

"How do you know?"

"I had her for English." He visibly grimaced. "I barely passed that class. I think she hates everyone or something because she's always on everyone's ass. I hear people have failed because she kept sending them to the office."

"Oh shit. Really?" Emma narrowed her eyes at him in disbelief. "Mary Margaret had promised me her old car by the end of the year if I got good grades."

"You're screwed out of a car, then."

"I'm gonna ask Belle. She had her… I think. Well, she took a lot of English classes." Emma rubbed the bridge of her nose and slumped into the desk, head buried into her arms. "I thought this year was going to be easy."

"Emma?" A soft voice reached the blonde's ears. It held a familiar lilt that immediately made the teenager jump up from her seat and grab the source of disturbance.

"Belle!"

"Yes? Emma, what is it?" She looked at her, eyes widening in alarm.

"Have you had that... Mrs. Mills?"

"It's Ms. Mills. Yeah. She's pretty tough on grades." Belle tilted her head.

"You're a brainiac. What did you get? Numb nuts over here says people always fail her class."

The brunette bit her lip and looked down at her friend. "I had an A in that class. It was a bit tough trying to maintain it, though."

"It was _tough_? That's it, I'm screwed." Emma slumped back down into her desk.

"You got her?"

"Yeah. For creative writing."

"Don't worry, Em. You're a good writer." Belle reassured with a frown, sitting in the desk next to her. "You'll do good."

"I'm not as good as you and I need an A. I wanna be able to get Mary Margaret's old car." Emma whined, thumping her head on the desk several times.

"She's losing it, Belle. Do something."

"Emma, please… Don't stress. You have a much better imagination than me. Remember? I'm the bookworm, not the author." She smiled dubiously.

"If you say so…" she groaned softly and sighed.

"And think of it this way Em, if you don't like the class, you could always change your schedule." The brunette looked at her with kind eyes.

"You're right. I can. I probably will." Emma nodded upon a sigh, fingers tangling through her own blonde curls. "Thanks. I don't know what I would do without you."

"Probably get a concussion," Belle quipped.

"Probably." Emma chuckled and looked over to the clock, noticing it to be mere minutes until the bell would ring. "You should probably go before you're late to homeroom."

"Right." Belle nodded and hugged Emma quickly before standing. "See you in Gov. Tell me how it goes with the Evil Queen."

Emma watched as the brunette fled from the classroom. _The Evil Queen?_ The English teacher even had her own nickname? That was _far_ from good.

* * *

First period was a drag. They went over the syllabus for the class with Mr. Booth, who she had the previous year for English, handed out a self-introductory worksheet before introducing themselves to the class. After they had finished, they were able to have the rest of the class to themselves, in which Killian had bugged her throughout the duration.

Second period was much like first except this time Killian was placed a few rows away from her. She smirked as he had noticed that on the seating chart shown on the front board. Emma didn't need to sit next to him for another hour. One was enough. Mr. Spencer had given them a review quiz which took up the last half hour of class and they were soon able to leave.

Third period rolled around and Emma could feel her stomach knotting up. Next period was creative writing. She knew she had nothing to worry about just yet, considering it was the first day and she was quite sure that the teacher would end up forcing them to suffer the same fate as the other classes. But that wasn't until an hour away.

Mr. Hurst had spent the better half of the class talking about what they would be doing and the guidelines they had to follow. She had eventually zoned out from the man's droning voice as her green eyes searched the gym. Across from them was a second class. She wasn't sure which one it was, but Killian was in there, and it didn't take long for him to make eye contact. She scowled and averted her gaze to look at the clock. Ten minutes left. It felt like butterflies were making a windstorm in her stomach.

She had no reason to feel sick. They were just rumors. Even people like Belle could have a hard time. What did this woman even look like, anyways? The paper said Mrs. and her friends said Ms. which, either way, had Emma imagining a sour, old woman. That would probably explain why she was so harsh. Great. _An old bat that'll probably hate me_ , she thought.

Then it happened.

The bell rang and Emma's heart sank. She got up from the bleachers and made her way to the door, ignoring the way Killian was calling her name. Emma hastily finished her route only to be blocked by the large number of students trying to exit at the same time. She stopped and huffed, giving in as she turned to the boy behind her.

"Hey," he greeted.

"What?"

"What do you have next?"

"Creative writing. You know this."

"Oh, wait. Yeah." He bit his lower lip for a moment and smirked. "Good luck."

"Yeah…" Emma rolled her eyes once again and left for the exit as soon as it had cleared up. Then she was wandering as slowly as possible to her next class. She was unsure of it now. Both seemed to sympathize her about having Ms. Mills as a teacher and it wasn't something to celebrate. She almost contemplated skipping, but that would be pointless. At least she would give this teacher a chance. If she didn't like it by the end of the day, she would change up her schedule.

Emma turned down the English hallway, schedule in hand as she gazed at the classroom numbers. Her eyes landed on the one that matched the numbers on the paper. Exhaling slowly, she entered the classroom to find it halfway full. There weren't many people here so far, it made her wonder exactly how many people didn't want to be in this woman's class.

Taking her lower lip between her teeth, she sought out a seat in the back of the class. She figured that they could choose their own seats, seeing as to how there was no chart around. She didn't mind. That meant she could keep away from most people. She enjoyed the freedom of the last seat in a row. It made her feel more isolated, even though there was still a whole class of people in front of her.

Emma glanced up toward the clock and noticed that there was a couple of minutes before class. She must have arrived faster than she thought if she had that much time left. Shrugging mentally, she gazed around the room in hopes to find out more about the infamous teacher. There were no personal items; just the usual boring classroom with encouraging posters about English and writing. Her eyes focused on the front wall. There were two white boards with one of the electronic Smart Boards nestled between them. On one of the boards was written in cursive: _Miss Mills._

Funny, Emma thought. On her schedule, it said she was a Mrs. Or so she thought. She looked down to the schedule once again and finally noticed that she had misread the text. The "Mrs." didn't appear on the paper at all. No wonder why her friends had been referring to the teacher as "Ms." Emma chalked it up to being tired and reading the text too fast this morning. _Sometimes..._

When Emma looked up again, she saw _her_ as she entered the room, which was now mostly filled up with students who had been chatting in her absence. But Emma hadn't paid any attention to them. Her eyes were locked on the woman with dark brown hair that just barely reached her shoulders, dark eyes, and full, crimson lips. Emma could cry.

Mouth dry, Emma just couldn't take her eyes away from this gorgeous woman. Surely, _she_ couldn't be the bitch teacher? No way… Maybe her friends made a mistake. Maybe they were thinking of another Mills in this school. It couldn't be her.

 _Gods, no. Not with that ass._

Emma's forest green eyes stuck like glue to her teacher's posterior as she turned to fiddle with the Smart Board. Those slacks did her much justice, hugging the curve of her ass which left little to the imagination. Suddenly, the blonde was thinking about how Ms. Mills would look without those pants on and what kind of undergarments she wore. Granny panties? Silk? Satin? Lace? Thong? And… oh, Gods, what if she wore _nothing_?

 _Bleeeeeeeeeep!_

The sound of the bell startled her, nearly causing Emma to fall out of her seat, all naughty thoughts about her teacher immediately dissipating. Then she noticed that Ms. Mills had an eyebrow quirked as she stared at the blonde.

"Sorry…" she said sheepishly, shrinking in her seat with burning cheeks.

"I certainly do hope that you won't be spacing off during my class or else we will be having problems in the future." Ms. Mills spoke, doing funny things to Emma's insides. It was soft, yet husky, and reminded Emma of burning wood for some reason.

"I-I won't…" Emma wanted to slap herself.

"Good. What is your name?" She looked down to something on the podium.

"Emma Swan- I mean, Nolan." The blonde bit the inside of her cheek.

Ms. Mills quirked a manicured brow once again at the slip before her chestnut orbs moved over the paper. "Thank you, Miss Nolan."

"Swan. Please, call me Swan, not Nolan." Emma braved.

"Alright, _Miss Swan_." The blonde swore she could see a twitch on Ms. Mills' face as if she were trying to hide her amusement. Gods, she only knew this woman for less than ten minutes and she was already obsessed.

 _Shit._

After Ms. Mills had taken attendance, she pushed the podium aside and clicked a button on the remote she held for the electronic board.

"As you all may know, I am Regina Mills, but please do call me Ms. Mills. I teach English II and III courses." She offered the class a tight smile, but Emma brushed the words off and continued to stare at the way her mouth moved with every vowel.

"Of course, as you may already know, you are in Creative Writing. I'm sure you're all well aware that it is not a required course and if you cannot handle the fact that I do take my classes seriously and this will not just be an easy A for you because you are so well inclined to write words on paper, you may talk with your counselor and change your schedule. I will not tolerate freeloaders and I do not give out extra credit. You must take this course seriously as you would with your writing." The teacher had paced across the room now, then turned to face the students once again. "I'm quite sure that you may have heard from fellow students that had previously taken my course that it's hard. Truly, it is not. All I ask of you is to use your imagination to your full capacity. I am fickle about proper grammar and sentence structure, so please do review your work. If you do not, it will only hurt your grade."

Emma was starting to space out again as the woman spoke about the class and what was to be expected. The yellow paper passed out was the syllabus that had most of the same requirements and criteria that every other class had. Hearing about this for the fourth time in one day was tiring and Emma found herself staring at the teacher's moving mouth. After spending so much time there, she noticed a few things like Ms. Mills had a scar on the right side of her upper lip or that she licked those red lips every few sentences.

It wasn't until Emma was handed another paper that she had snapped out of her trance and decided that it was time to pay attention again. She grabbed the white piece of parchment and read over the black print.

"I would like your first assignment to be a short one-to-two-page summary of your summer and yourself, as well. Instead of the usual introductory work, I find this is the best way to learn about you, as well as where you at with your writing skill."

A student raised their hand. "Is this graded?"

"It will be graded for completion points. I want you to complete it by the end of the period." Then she was walking towards Emma, and oh Gods, the blonde thought she got caught spacing off again. But then Ms. Mills moved right past her to the teacher's desk in the corner of the room, which had been right next to the blonde's.

Emma had thoughtlessly taken the desk next to the teacher's because she wanted to figure out who the hell was going to be teaching her. She held in a breath, then exhaled, looking at Ms. Mills from the corner of her eye.

The brunette teacher had taken an apple out of her desk, deep and dark, just like her lips. Then she had taken out a small container that Emma could only guess was her lunch. After all, next period was her own, and the only lunch periods were fourth and fifth.

 _Oh._

She smirked to herself, eyes roaming over the piece of paper in her hand. It was open lunch and she was free to do what she wished. Perhaps she could stay behind some days and work. Of course, that was, if Ms. Mills would allow her.

Sighing to herself, Emma gazed up at the clock once again. There was about twenty minutes left of class. She really didn't want to have to write at the moment, so instead, she lightly tapped her pencil on the surface of her desk.

" _Miss Swan_." The sound of her name was an annoyed whisper. The blonde looked up to see Ms. Mills staring at her pencil, then those dark eyes rose to her face, which ultimately caused her to drop the utensil.

"Sorry."

"Get to work."

Emma bowed her head and stared at the prompt in front of her.

She stared so hard, she was sure it would burst into flames.

Then she heard a sigh beside her, but this time she didn't look up, instead she bent down and shuffled through her bag until she pulled out a clean notebook and opened it. Immediately, she got to writing about the beginning of her summer, only to pause mid-paragraph for a chance to glance at her teacher.

And her pencil dropped onto the paper.

 _Hot damn_.

She put on glasses.

Ms. Mills was wearing glasses. She didn't think the brunette could get any more attractive, but the way she pulled her lower lip into her mouth as she read a paper in front of her just caused Emma's heart to flutter.

Then brown eyes met green.

And that damned eyebrow quirked.

The blonde immediately looked back to her paper, picked up her pencil, and resumed writing. She swore she could feel Ms. Mills _smirking_ beside her. But she didn't dare look as she scribbled on the paper as fast as her hand could manage. It wasn't long until the bell had sounded, announcing that class was over.

Emma didn't move.

She continued to sit there as every other student filed out of the room, dropping their finished assignments on the podium. They probably wanted to get to lunch. Emma didn't mind. She had nowhere to go and school lunch didn't sound appetizing.

There was a popping sound as a lid separated from its container. She lifted her gaze to furtively watch as Ms. Mills began to prepare her lunch.

The brunette teacher didn't seem to take any action to Emma's presence. The blonde didn't make any plan to move, either, for she continued to scribble onto the paper about her summer.

"Are you going to leave any time soon, Miss _Swan_?" That husky voice finally spoke of Emma's presence and she shivered.

"I was just going to finish my paper," she quickly explained.

"You seem to make yourself known." Her voice was almost a whisper.

"What do you mean?" Emma stopped and dropped her pencil to look at the teacher, who had now been chewing something.

After a few moments, she answered, "First off, you nearly jump out of your seat at the beginning of class." Her brow quirked. "And don't think I hadn't noticed you staring through me for most of the period. You would have had that assignment finished like the rest of your classmates if you hadn't been doing just that."

Emma blushed slightly and looked down at her paper for a moment.

"And now you bring it upon yourself to stay in class during my lunch hour and finish work that could very well have been done in class. I must say, Emma, my first impression of you is not the best." Ms. Mills stabbed a piece of what appeared to be lettuce and brought the fork out of the container. "If you continue to make a habit out of this, let me tell you, this semester will be a long one."

"I'm sorry," she mumbled softly, feeling her heart weigh heavy in her chest. "Look, I'll get this done and be out of your hair."

"Do you need a pass after you are finished?" She asked, taking out a small pad of pass-papers.

Emma shook her head, pencil tapping on the paper once again. "I have open lunch."

"I see." Ms. Mills put the pad back and delicately wrapped her lips around the fork, pulling it away as she chewed the leaf.

The sight had Emma almost crying for mercy. What the hell was with her? This was her _teacher_. She supposed it wasn't exactly illegal to feel attracted to your teacher. Students were always crushing after their professors. It's not like they had a chance, anyways. It's not like _she_ had the chance.

"You're staring again, Miss Swan. Must I get you a laser pointer to divide your attention to where it needs to be?" She quirked a brow at a blushing Emma, who had been embarrassed that she had been caught once again.

"Sorry…" she mumbled and turned to complete the paper. About ten minutes later, she completed the assignment, just as it appeared that Ms. Mills had finished off her lunch. Emma stood and handed over her notebook.

"Thank you. Enjoy your lunch before you run out of time." The teacher offered her a soft smile as she took the notebook and sat it in front of herself. Soon, those glasses were back in place as she began to read the words on the paper.

"Thanks. You too, and sorry again for ruining your lunch." Emma sighed softly and gathered her belongings before rushing out of the room.

* * *

"So, I see you survived her class." Belle chuckled, bumping her arm playfully against Emma's as the blonde arrived into the government classroom and took the seat next to her best friend.

"Yeah. It wasn't so bad." Emma shrugged. "I thought she was gonna be old or something."

"No, she isn't. Well, she is. She's like… almost thirty. She told us when I was in her class."

"What?" Emma blinked and stared at Belle with incredulous eyes. "I thought she was like… twenty-five or something."

"Well, close. She's twenty-seven."

" _Wow_ ," the blonde muttered.

"What's wrong?" Belle blinked, completely oblivious.

Emma turned to her friend, mouth slightly gaped open.

"Emma?"

"She's…" she dramatically twitched her eyes and dropped her head onto her desk.

The brunette next to her could only frown and sympathize, patting her back. "Hey, what's wrong, hon?"

"She's so _hot_." Emma whimpered sadly.

"What?" Belle blinked, then burst out laughing. She laughed. She had the audacity to _laugh._

"What?!" Emma threw her hands up, the pout on her lips only forcing Belle to laugh more.

"If I would have known she was your type, I would have told you that you'd like her." Belle snorted a laugh through her nose, trying to calm down. Their teacher, Mr. Glass, had shot them a warning glance.

"I don't think my type is exactly _that_. I mean… I like the dark hair and eyes… and, shit, she can really pull off that suit."

"Wait until she wears the pencil skirt." The moment the words were out of her mouth, Belle looked as if she were going to hit herself.

"How am I going to survive this year?"

"I don't know, Em. You're out of luck." She chuckled once again.

"She's ten years older than me." Emma finally realized once again, a blank look on her face.

"So you like older women. What's the deal?" Her friend shrugged nonchalantly.

"I guess… nothing. Not like anything's gonna happen anyways." Emma sighed softly and played with one of her blonde curls.

"You must really like her." Belle blinked, completely astonished by her friend's reaction.

"It's probably just a small crush."

"I guess. She shocked me, too." Belle shrugged and stood from her desk. The rest of the class had done the same and headed for the door.

"Class is over?"

"Yes." The brunette chuckled. "Come on, we need to get to art class."

* * *

After art class had ended, Emma and Belle had left school to head towards Ruby's work. They decided to drop by for a visit with their other best friend to see how she was doing and tell her about their day.

Opening the door, Emma entered Granny's and smiled over to Ruby who had been behind the counter looking bored. The diner was empty for the most part except for a few patrons enjoying an afternoon coffee.

"Hey, it's my favorite girlfriends!" Ruby chuckled and waved the two teens over to the counter. "What do you want?"

"What I usually get." Emma shrugged indifferently as Belle nodded, repeating the same.

"Alright. We need an iced tea and a hot cocoa with cinnamon."

Writing down the order, Ruby headed off to gather the drinks. Soon enough she returned with the order, placing each drink in front of their respective owner. The lanky brunette leaned against the counter, dark lids batting.

"So, tell me, how was the first day of senior year?"

"Shitty," Emma mumbled, sipping from her cocoa.

"Emma's got a crush!" Belle squealed immediately, unable to contain her excitement as she bounced on the stool.

Ruby's eyes widened in surprise as she stared at the blonde who had now tried to hide her blush with golden locks.

"Em?"

"Goddammit, Belle. Why can't you keep your damn mouth shut?" she huffed at her friend's outburst.

"Who is she, Em?" The waitress smirked and eyed Belle, knowing she would spill the beans.

Belle smirked and poked Emma's arm, who merely grumbled a profanity, before speaking.  
"It's Ms. Mills."

"You mean the hot bitch that teaches English?" Ruby's eyes widened with surprise. "I didn't know you went for that type, Em."

"Shut up." Emma growled, glaring over at Belle.

The younger brunette smirked, waggling her brows. "Emma talked about her all during Gov."

"Shut. _Up_." The blush on the blonde's cheeks only darkened as Belle spoke. "It's not like I meant to."

"No! I wanna hear more about this crush on the Evil Queen." Ruby bit her red lip.

"She's _not_ evil!" Emma defended, which only caused her cheeks to burn darker.

That caused both of her friends to quirk a brow. "Defensive much, Em?"

"Shut up!" She growled and got up from her spot, downing the rest of her hot cocoa before slapping some money onto the counter to leave.

"I think we went too far." She heard Belle say to Ruby who only laughed.

"Nah, she's just embarrassed."

Emma ignored Belle's apology and Ruby's laughing as she power walked herself home. She knew she should have never said anything to Belle. She knew she should have just kept her lips sealed.

whatever this little crush is will go away soon. It was just an infatuation after all. Nothing more than desire that she usually felt for most women she found attractive.

"Emma!" Mary Margaret stopped the blonde teen in her tracks as she entered the apartment. "There you are! I was worried. I thought you would come home right after school."

"I'm sorry, Mary Margaret. I stopped to see Ruby." She bit her lip. "I'll text you if I do it again. I just wanted to tell her about my first day. She wanted to know."

"Oh. It's fine, honey. As long as you're okay." The small brunette smiled and wrapped her arms around Emma for a moment. "How was your first day?"

"It wasn't too bad." Emma shrugged, avoiding any possible conversation about her Creative Writing class.

"Oh?"

Emma nodded and followed her mother to the kitchen. She sat by the counter on the stool and told her about her day.


	2. I'm Not Good At Titling Things

"Why the hell are you in here, anyways? I thought you said you didn't have English with me." Emma was lounging in the desk of her first period class. She had the honor of sitting next to Killian's non-stop babbling about his day yesterday, acting as if Emma cared about that. Finally fed up, she interrupted him with the question she had yesterday after realizing that he had this class with her.

The brunet looked at her, a bushy eyebrow quirked. "Haven't you figured it out? I lied."

"Big surprise." Emma muttered under her breath, playing with one of her mechanical pencils.

Currently, they were listening to Mr. Booth continue with the classroom rules. Of course, most of the class had taken to doing their own thing as his voice seemed to drone on about not having your cell phones out during class and _blah blah blah_ …

Emma was nearly falling asleep by then, finding her eyes drooping every so often. It was quite the struggle to stay awake, and by the looks of it, she hoped that she could. Curse her for staying up too late last night, but for the life of her, she just couldn't fall asleep. This day was going to be a long one.

"Em." The voice made the blonde jump slightly in her seat, then shoot daggers at the source.

"What?" She snapped, trying hard to ignore the chuckle coming from that arrogant ass and to keep herself from kicking said ass in the nuts.

Killian smirked. "How did it go with… _her_?"

" _Her_?" Emma repeated with confusion until it hit her. He was talking about her fourth period class and the woman who taught it.

"Oh. Uh, not too bad. I bet she hates me." The blonde shrugged nonchalantly and made chicken scratches with her pencil on the classroom rules paper, praying that he wouldn't pry too much and make her blurt out a confession.

"What'd you do?" He quirked a brow at her. "Day number one: Piss off the Evil Queen. Not a good idea."

"Pretty much. I'm a nuisance and I was also caught staring."

Killian smirked. "You too, huh?"

Emma looked at him, nearly having forgotten that he had taken a class with Ms. Mills before. It wasn't a surprise to her that he probably had been staring at the brunette teacher as well. And for some reason, something just bristled inside of her. She didn't want _anyone_ else looking at the English teacher like that.

"What do you mean?" She gritted the words between her teeth.

"I couldn't believe it, either," he explained. "When everyone said she was a bitch, I assumed she was ugly and old or something. Usually those teachers are, but … She's not and she's _hot_."

"Yeah, thanks for warning me. Both you and Belle seemed to have left that little detail out."

"At least you don't have to worry about her hating you for no reason." The boy shrugged and smirked. "She gave me detention before and there _was_ a reason."

"... why?" Emma was scared to ask. She was quite certain of what he did, upon the new revelations. Killian and his incapability to control the dangly parts attached to him.

"I touched the butt."

Emma nearly launched herself from her desk to strangle that boy sitting next to her. It took every fiber of her being to keep her muscles still. "You...touched her butt?" she growled softly, trying to keep herself as calm as possible.

"Have you seen her ass?"

"You're a pervert." Emma rolled her eyes and leaned back against her chair. "A fucking horny perv."

He smirked and waggled his eyebrows at her. "Isn't someone jealous?"

Emma's heart skipped a beat.

"Don't worry, there's enough Killian Jones to go around."

She sighed in relief. He was talking about himself. But what he had said made her glare at him, wishing his skin would burn underneath the heated stare. "You wish."

He opened his mouth to speak, but the bell interrupted him and Emma stood up to follow the rest of the class out the door. Thank the divines he didn't sit next to her in Mr. Spencer's class, or she'd be tempted to replace his eyes with his testicles and vice versa.

* * *

"I've read your assignments from yesterday and I must admit that I am impressed with what I saw." Ms. Mills smiled towards the class as she walked around the room with a stack of papers in her hand. "I've taken the liberty to make a note on each. You may take a few minutes to look them over before I continue with today's agenda."

She began to pass the papers back out to their owners; the pencil skirt that she wore today tightening every time she moved. Emma only knew this because she had been staring the entire time. It seemed as if her eyes were permanently glued to such forbidden territory and she certainly did hope that Ms. Mills wouldn't soon find out where her eyes usually were when her back was turned.

Quickly averting her gaze before the teacher could catch her staring, she took the time to drink up the classroom again. There were more open seats today for it appeared that the number of students had decreased. Perhaps they got scared about Ms. Mills' warning yesterday and decided to take her advice and visit with the counselor. Such a shame, Emma thought, they were missing out.

"Emma." She heard her name in the melody of Regina's voice and looked up to see a notebook being handed to her. She forgot about not ripping the pages out before she left.

In her embarrassment, she grinned sheepishly and took it, opening the cover so she could look at the first page. It wasn't until the final page that she saw red ink formed into cursive writing in the empty space below her own words. She read them carefully, smiling to herself.

" _Despite your affinity to be known and somewhat disruptive, I found your skill to be surprisingly impressive. I cannot wait to see what you have to come up with in future assignments. Please, do keep up the good work and try your best. I see that you have a creative imagination. Use it wisely."_

Emma read through the small brick of words again, her eyes catching a small bit of writing at the bottom in pencil. It was still the same cursive as the red writing. She wondered why the hell it had changed. With a shrug, she read the words, nearly chuckling aloud.

" _P.S. I especially enjoyed the part where you nearly lit your mother's pants on fire with a bottle rocket. At least no one was harmed."_

Emma smiled wide in amusement at the words. She liked the brunette teacher even more.

When the blonde gazed up to see if anyone else was done, she noticed Ms. Mills standing at the front of the room with her eyes locked on Emma. A shiver eased its way down her spine as their eyes met briefly. The blonde could only offer a sheepish smile, unsure of how else to get out of that without squirming to the floor. That offered a small tug of the brunette teacher's lips before she stepped forward.

"Alright, if we're finished, I'll begin with today's lesson."

Emma sat through the rest of the class period, her mind on that note in her paper. She knew it was just a thing that teachers did. She didn't take it personally like she was more special than anyone else or anything, but it sure felt like it.

* * *

"She wrote a love note to you on your assignment?" Ruby laughed over the phone as Emma kicked her boots off.

It was the end of the day and Emma had decided to head straight home instead of worrying Mary Margaret again. She forgot her phone at the apartment and didn't want to make the poor brunette fret for her.

Again, though, she had made the mistake of talking to Belle about the note left on her paper from Ms. Mills. She should have known better that that damn bookworm would go and blab to Ruby, because it wasn't ten minutes after she got home and texted Ruby that she called instead of replying.

"I take it you spoke to Belle?"

"Yeah. So is it true? What did she say?"

"Calm down, Rubes. It wasn't a love note. She wrote a note regarding our writing skills at the end of the assignment. She just said that I was pretty good and she was impressed." Emma shrugged and collapsed onto her bed with a sigh. "I only told Belle because I was worried about the class before."

She could feel Ruby's smirk over the phone. "I'm sure that's not the only thing she'll be impressed by."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Emma huffed.

"Nothing. That means nothing."

Emma scowled at her phone and crossed her arms, letting the cellphone lay against her cheek. "You're insane if you think I'll ever be able to get to know her like that, fuck, Rubes. She's probably not even gay."

"You never know!" Ruby chirped.

"I'll hang up on you."

"No, you won't."

"No, I won't. But shut up about her." Emma sighed and rolled onto her side, staring blankly at the wall.

"Why?"

"Because. It's stupid and pointless. It'd be different if she was a student, you know? At least I'd have a chance."

"Jeez, Em, lighten up! Just spend some time with her or something. Didn't you say that you spent, like, half your lunch with her?"

Emma frowned and mentally kicked herself. She made the mistake of talking with Ruby later last night as the waitress had texted her sorry with a crying, frowny face. They had talked a bit more and she eventually squeezed more information out of her about Ms. Mills.

"That was to finish a paper and it was just yesterday. I can't just randomly stay in there. She'd think I'm a weirdo or something." The blonde shifted on the bed.

Ruby chuckled. "Wait until you get another paper, you doofus. Maybe then you can. I mean, like, how did it work last time?"

"It was supposed to have been done in class," she murmured. "I doubt the next ones would be like that, considering they'll probably be longer. I can't just stay in during lunch."

"Oh, come on, Em. Take it from the expert, here." Ruby smirked, and Emma could feel it through the way she spoke. "Make up an excuse, like, you can't do it at home or something. I'm sure she'd let you stay."

"Probably not. I doubt she wants me to disrupt her lunch."

"Holy fuck, Emma. Get your head in the fucking game!" Ruby snapped, then muttered a quick apology after a reprimanding voice shouted in the background.

"Having Granny troubles, I see." Emma chuckled.

"Shut up." There was some shuffling noise and a click before Ruby spoke again. "Alright, now. Listen to me, girl. I know it'd be weird, like, if you weren't working on it in class, right? And you just stay there and whip it out?"

"Yeah...?"

"Well, how if you 'accidentally' lose track of time or something or try to finish up your thoughts after the bell rings?" She continued.

"Okay?"

There was a long, irritated sigh. "And voila!"

"Look, Ruby, I appreciate your matchmaking help, but it's only been like, what, two days? I just have a crush on her, okay?"

" _Okay_." The word was drawn out as if Ruby didn't believe her.

"And, anyways, what's just sitting in there working on my papers going to do? Make it awkward and make me hungry."

"Take food with you. Make it habitual. Like, ask if you can just eat lunch in there or something. Make it less awkward, and maybe have yourself a break as you eat. Talk." Ruby suggested and Emma swore that she wasn't talking to her friend anymore.

"Huh… Well…" She clucked. "I don't know."

"It's just a suggestion. You could try it, or something. Hell, I'll even make you a lunch and you can pick it up in the morning. I've got some stuff that'll last until then."

"Shit. I'll try it. _Once._ Okay? I'll let you know the next time I have a paper." Emma sighed and shook her head. She couldn't believe she was getting herself into this.

"Good! I gotta go, 'cause Granny's gonna bust down the bathroom door if I don't get my ass out and work. So, talk to you later. Love you!"

"Yeah... Bye!" Emma chuckled and ended the call, leaving herself to her thoughts.


	3. Ruby's Foolproof Plan

Emma was quite sure Ruby soiled her pants when she got a phone call from the blonde a month into the school year. It was early on a Thursday morning when Emma decided to gain the guts to do it. They had been assigned a new paper and today was their workday. It was going to be dicey trying out Ruby's suggestion. She would try it today, and if she would be able to stay without Ms. Mills being weirded out by her company, she would even try it again on Friday.

Since it had been so long, the waitress assumed that Emma had been right and the little crush hadn't lasted long. But they were both dead wrong and Emma still couldn't peel her eyes away from her creative writing teacher's ass.

Of course, Ruby had berated Emma with several questions, mostly consisting of why she hadn't called for the other assignments, but the blonde had told her that she still didn't trust her feelings then. But since it had been so long, she decided that it would be best to act now rather than never and waste any time that could be used trying out this silly plan.

Silly, of course it was. It was more than silly. It was utterly ridiculous. But here she was going through with it anyways.

Emma barely heard the question Mary Margaret yelled after her as the blonde rushed out of the house. _Why was she leaving so early?_ She managed to make an incoherent response about picking lunch up from Ruby and continued on her way to run to the diner.

She sprinted all the way to Granny's where Ruby was literally waiting for her outside with a brown paper bag. She flashed her a knowing smile before going back inside, allowing Emma to head to school as she stuffed the bag into her backpack.

The first three periods seemed to go on agonizingly slow and gym was no walk in the park. She had to run and boy, did she run. She felt that if she ran fast enough, the period would end sooner. But she was wrong and Mr. Hurst had to stop her before she burned herself out completely. He sent her to walk, instead of run, around the track, which ultimately caused her to sweat excessively underneath the sun.

Emma was pissed by the time she got to the girls' locker room. She smelled and she didn't have enough time to shower.

 _Oh, great_. This was her first impression and she smelled like something had crawled under her arms and died.

She tried her best to mask the stench with a few dampened paper towels and tons of deodorant as well as a strange apple body spray that Mary Margaret had gotten her for her birthday.

By the time she had cleaned up, she was late getting out of class. She cursed to herself and asked the gym teacher for a pass before heading towards the English hallway, her head hanging low as she entered the classroom.

Ms. Mills was in her desk by then while everyone else was writing on pieces of notebook paper. They started. She wandered over to the teacher's desk and smiled sheepishly, a hand holding the pass out to her.

The brunette looked up, glasses slipping slightly back up the bridge of her nose as she gazed at the blonde in front of her. "I am glad that you felt the need to join us today, Emma." She took the pass and set it on her desk. "I've given you class time to get started on the assignment I handed out on Tuesday."

Emma nodded and politely took her seat, smiling to herself. Being late gave her an advantage. Perhaps she would have more of an excuse to stay after class for lunch. Maybe, _just maybe_ …

Emma took her sweet time writing, going back several times over certain sentences to refine them until she ended up changing the entirety of it. She wanted to get as little done as possible without looking like a slacker. It was hard, honestly. Her eyes were constantly on the brunette and each time Ms. Mills had looked up from her computer, she made sure to get back to the sentence she had edited several times prior.

She had written a paragraph and a half when the bell rang. Her stomach did small flips as she remained seated, the other students leaving in haste for lunch. Just like the first day, Ms. Mills didn't comment. She pulled out the same small container, Emma noted as she watched, and a fork that stabbed the contents.

Before the fork rose to full lips, Ms. Mills stared at Emma with a quirked brow. "You know that you have no need to stay in here, Emma. You'll get time tomorrow to work on it in class."

"I… uh…" Emma stuttered, feeling as if her brain were about to malfunction, if it hadn't already. She hadn't thought of a backup plan in case it didn't worked. It was a surefire success, Ruby had said. Screw you, Emma had thought.

Ms. Mills kept that brow lifted as she stared at Emma. Slowly, she brought the fork the rest of the way to her mouth. "Are you alright, Emma?"

"I-I don't… time… none. Nope." She tried, but the sentence didn't seem to form. Oh, Gods, how she wished she could die.

Regina blinked slightly and tilted her head. "Well, I'm glad that your writing is much more coherent than your speaking, dear."

"S-sorry." Emma looked down to her bag, the lunch Ruby had made her was nearly falling out. Ms. Mills must have noticed her gaze, for her eyes went to the bag.

"Emma, tell me, why are you really in here? Because, clearly, you don't need to work on the paper. Every other student is capable of finishing it within class and I have seen you do it yourself, and turn it in well before others."

"I…" Emma swallowed hard.

"Well?" Ms. Mills prompted her, eyes narrowed, as Emma sat with her mouth open.

Then she just blurted her next words.

"I don't have anyone to sit with at lunch and my friend has it fourth period and there's just too many people and I don't have enough time to walk home and eat and come back and I hate school lunch." She exhaled a deep breath.

Ms. Mills looked at her, lips parted and eyes a bit larger than before. "E-Emma… I didn't know. If you had this problem, you could have stayed in here before."

"R-really?" Emma looked at her, pink slightly tinting her cheeks. Gods, she hoped Ms. Mills couldn't see that.

"Of course! I eat alone, anyways, as you see. I do quite enjoy the company from time to time." She offered a soft smile. "To tell you the truth, I'm not much of a social person myself."

"Oh?" Emma slightly frowned. She reached down and grabbed the paper bag out of her backpack before daring her next move, scooting her chair to close the distance between the two. The woman's scent was far stronger now, the spicy perfume filling Emma's senses and she had to admit that it was nice. It reminded her of apple cider. But then again, that just might have been her own body spray that she drowned herself in earlier.

Her eyes roamed over the desk before her. Seeing it close up like this was strange and she could see what that container had. Just a little bit of salad. She sat back in her seat and opened up the bag to see what the hell Ruby had given her. She pulled out a tinfoil wrapped item, and then another. With a blink, she peered inside the bag.

Of course Ruby would do that.

 _I made you a grilled cheese, girl, and I put in an extra in case your "friend's" hungry._

"What is it?" Ms. Mills looked up from her salad, brows knit together.

"Nothing. Just a note my friend gave me. She packed me a lunch, but it seems she gave me an extra sandwich." Emma stated nonchalantly, hoping that it sounded innocent. She stopped and looked over to her teacher. "Hey, is that all you have?"

"What? This?" She nodded, then shrugged, nibbling on a leaf. "I try to eat light. If I eat a heavy lunch, I get sick, and getting sick in the middle of class is not a good thing."

"I guess not." Emma agreed, then bit her lip, eyes on the greens in the small container. "You should eat more than that…" she mumbled, half hoping that the brunette hadn't heard her.

"I thought you were my student?" The rich laughter that came from Ms. Mills' lips made Emma's heart rate speed up.

"Y-yeah… But…" She chewed on her lower lip and nudged the extra grilled cheese in front of Regina. "Eating very little isn't good, either. You could faint. It's happened to me before."

"Oh?" Ms. Mills' voice seemed to have taken a concerned tone. Her brown eyes met with green as Emma looked up and nodded. She hadn't exactly meant to let that slip.

But Emma continued anyways. "Yeah. Some of these foster homes… they, uh… they don't really care about the kids, sometimes." She paused and quickly averted her gaze, because as soon as the words were out of her mouth and the room was caught in silence, she felt as if she shouldn't have said anything.

The teacher frowned slightly, her brows furrowed as she processed the words. "So, those stories, Emma, the ones you write…"

"Yeah." Emma looked to her lap, wondering how the hell they got into such a deep conversation about her past. "Sometimes I base them off things that happened. People probably wouldn't believe them, anyways."

"Emma, if you ever need someone to talk with…" Ms. Mills had said softly, a hand reaching forward to grab Emma's own.

The blonde looked up, her entire arm was now tingling from the contact and nearly made her squirm. Oh, Gods, she hoped that Regina couldn't hear her heart beating, because that thing was going like a ticking bomb.

She gazed at the teacher, deeply staring into those dark pools, and found herself relaxing.

With her mind trying to discern the odd emotions bubbling within her, she found herself in a peculiar position, leaning forward ever so slightly. It only closed some of the distance between them and she wasn't sure if Ms. Mills had noticed or not, for she merely stayed with her eyes locked on Emma's.

Then it was over in the blink of an eye when the bell that indicated half the period went by, which would also alternate lunches, had tolled, startling the two. Ms. Mills blinked her eyes as the back of her rolling chair jerked and hit the desk when the blonde had accidentally pushed it back to retrieve her grilled cheese from under the teacher's desk.

"Crap. I hate that bell," she muttered, taking her seat once again as she finally retrieved her lunch. Emma then unwrapped it from the tinfoil and grinned. It still felt warm. "You should eat the other one while it's still warm." She suggested to her teacher, who just stared blankly at the blonde.

Emma, too, stopped her motions and gazed at the brunette curiously. Okay, perhaps pretending whatever small moment that was didn't happen probably wasn't the best right. Her teacher still hadn't spoken. Emma shoved the extra grilled cheese into her hands.

"I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry." She muttered softly, eyes on the silver package in the brunette's hand.

But, of course, Ms. Mills probably thought different, for she took the grilled cheese and set it on her desk. Soon, dark eyes were staring intently at Emma, sharp and serious. "Are you sure? It's quite alright."

"Yeah, I guess." Emma shrugged, knowing very well that she probably would have kissed her teacher if not for the bell. But Ms. Mills did not need to know that.

"You should eat that before it gets cold. Maybe it'll do you some good." Regina straightened in her chair, diverting from the prior topic.

Emma suddenly felt relieved for the change and took a generous bite out of her sandwich. She watched as her teacher carefully opened the tinfoil and picked the grilled cheese out of its wrapping, then slowly brought it up to her mouth to take a bite.

"I hope you like grilled cheese. I never asked…" Emma bit her lip. "I-I mean. I don't want to force you to eat it. It was extra, after all. I could have just eaten it myself or-"

"It's delicious. Thank you for sharing it with me." Ms. Mills smiled carefully. "I must admit, though, that you're right. I should probably eat more than a salad."

"Why a salad?" The blonde's curiosity seemed to have gotten the better of her.

Regina's eyebrow quirked at her, chocolate orbs roaming over to the abandoned container. "I suppose it's just the quickest to throw together."

"You like sleep, too, huh?" Emma chuckled and took another bite. "I usually skip breakfast to sleep in late. But I had to get up early _and_ skip breakfast to pick this up from Ruby."

"Ruby?"

"Yeah. Ruby Lucas. She graduated last year. I think she took your class before, or so she told me." Emma shrugged and stuffed the rest of her grilled cheese into her mouth.

"Oh, yes, Ms. Lucas. I remember her. She had a mouth on her."

The teen laughed. "Really? I mean, I guess that sounds like her. But, damn, she makes one hell of a grilled cheese, right?"

"Why would she make you lunch?"

"Oh. I thought you knew that she worked at her grandmother's diner. She offered to make me lunch because… Uh… Yeah, she offered to make me lunches so I didn't have to walk all the way there." Emma shrugged nonchalantly.

"Send her my regards. She makes a lovely grilled cheese." The brunette smiled and the blonde nearly sighed with relief.

"Maybe I can have her make an extra every day?" The words were out of Emma's mouth before she realized and as soon as she _had_ realized it, her jaw was wired shut.

The words had caught Ms. Mills by surprise and she swore she saw a hint of appreciation in those chocolate hues of hers. "Would you really do that?"

"Yeah. Then you wouldn't have to worry about getting up those extra five minutes to throw rabbit food into a plastic container." She dared to further the conversation, nodding tightly. "And it's no problem for me to get up ten minutes early to pick this up."

"You don't have to, Emma. It's not really appropriate." The brunette teacher's visage changed, her brows furrowing.

"Oh, come on, Ms. Mills. It's just lunch." Emma bit her lip and squished the aluminum foil into a ball before depositing it into the brown paper bag. "Look, I mean, I don't have to stay in here. It's fine, really. I could eat somewhere else. Outside isn't too bad or the hallway or something maybe."

"As you wish. It would probably be for the best." Her voice had lowered slightly, but Emma had noticed the change.

"Unless you want me to be in here?" Emma whispered softly and waited for some sort of negative comment.

But she was taken by surprise by what Ms. Mills had said next. "It's nice to have the company."

"Oh?"

"Look, Emma. You feel free to do what you wish. If you decide that you do not want to eat in here, that's fine. I do not mind. If you do wish to, I will not be opposed." Her words were simple, but they made Emma turn to putty.

"Then I'll stay tomorrow and I may or may not have an extra grilled cheese again." Emma simply stated, trying to kill the smile from spreading across her lips.

"If you feel so inclined to." Ms. Mills gave her a short nod, although the slight lilt of her lips gave her away. "You'll want to get packed up. The bell is about to ring."

Emma immediately turned her head to look at the clock above the door. There was less than a minute before the bell rang and her next class was clear across the school.

"Yeah. I ought to… Uh, see you tomorrow, Ms. Mills." The blonde gave her a small smile as she flung her backpack over her shoulder and replaced the chair. She then quickly collected the garbage from their lunch and threw it into the bin on her way out.

"Have a good day, Emma."

"You too!"

And boy, she would have a good day after having lunch with her favorite teacher. The rest of the day would be dedicated to that one hour that she had with her and thoughts about what they were going to do tomorrow. She knew she was smiling like an idiot to herself and she just couldn't help it. There was no stopping her elated mood.

Emma just made it to her government class as the bell rang. Belle looked up from her desk as the door clicked shut and Mr. Glass quirked a brow.

"Right in the nick of time, Emma," he clucked. "Have a seat. We're going to get started."

Emma nodded and quickly headed to her spot next to Belle, who had immediately started to berate her with whispered questions. One of which was asking where she had been.

"I had lunch in my fourth period class," she said, a proud smirk on her lips.

"You actually took Ruby's advice?" Belle's eyebrows rose and she pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. "Seriously? How did it go?"

Emma shrugged and exhaled. "Ruby gave me an extra grilled cheese and a stupid note." With that memory, the blonde rolled her eyes.

"Really?" Her brunette friend laughed. "What did you do?"

"I offered Ms. Mills the grilled cheese and she ate it." Emma shrugged, looking up at the board for a moment to jot down a few notes.

Bell's eyes widened. "You got her to eat more than that salad?"

"Yeah? So?"

"Holy crap, Em."

"What's the big deal?"

"Everyone figures she's a health nut since all she does eat is that and some apple. We've never seen her with anything else. Maybe a cookie or two, but that's it." The bookworm shook her head and chuckled, shoving Emma playfully with her shoulder.

"She told me that she just doesn't have enough time in the morning to make anything else." She merely answered with another shrug.

"Really? The one time someone _did_ question her she just said she liked them and they were the healthiest thing." Belle explained, eyeing Emma with a knowing smirk.

And at that moment, Emma felt like she accomplished the impossible. "I'm gonna bring more extras tomorrow and I don't think she minds."

Belle blinked. "Really? Are you sure that you're talking about _the_ Ms. Mills or some impostor?"

"Yeah, it's the right one." The blonde grinned smugly.

"Wow." An astonished chuckle forced its way past her lips. "I always figured she liked being alone."

Emma frowned, then paused and looked at Belle. "Do you know if she has a boyfriend, or something?"

"I don't know." Belle shrugged, froze, then shot Emma a smirk. "Are you going to… y'know?"

"What? No!" Emma looked appalled that she would even suggest that, but, then again, wasn't that what she was _trying_ to do? "I came up with a half-bullshit story that I don't have anywhere to eat lunch and no one to sit with and she let me stay."

"You're definitely not dining with the right Ms. Mills. I mean, that woman basically lives in a shell." Belle was in a state of disbelief now, unable to comprehend what her friend was telling her. "You're lucky, Em."

"Just don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want them making fun of me or anything. I mean… I probably look like a teacher's pet or something, just staying in there like that." She frowned slightly.

"Can Ruby be an exception?" Belle pleaded, bouncing slightly in her seat.

"You tell her everything anyways." Emma glared at her friend, remembering the first day of school when the brunette had blurted out Emma's crush on Ms. Mills.

"Good." Belle smirked and wrote something down into her notebook. "We have an assignment."

"What?"

"That's what that is. You were distracted by her again."

"Shut up, Belle." Emma huffed and wrote down the assignment as well, given barely enough time before the bell rang, dismissing class. "Hey, what're we doing in art today?"

"I think we're doing something with letters or words or whatever. Being creative with them." Belle explained as the two friends walked out of the government room. "I think it's your name, but I'm sure you can choose a random word, too."

"Oh…" Emma grinned to herself, an idea popping into her head. "Thanks."

"Uh, you're welcome?"

"Yeah, yeah…" And then Emma nearly sprinted to her next period class, leaving a Belle to chase behind her.


	4. Can Grilled Cheese Make A Day?

"I made art." Emma pulled her backpack over with her as she scooted her chair next to Ms. Mills' desk once again.

It was Friday, fifth period, and as promised, Emma had brought the extra grilled cheese with her to give to Ms. Mills as she stayed after class once again.

"You made art? Congratulations, Emma." Ms. Mills chuckled softly and carefully unwrapped the grilled cheese, muttering a 'thank you' before taking a bite of it.

"Yeah. In art class, yesterday. I made something for you." The blonde teen smiled proudly, pulling out a thick piece of parchment to hand to the brunette. On it were the letters that made-up _Regina Mills_ and below that, in the bottom right corner, was Emma's signature of _E. Swan._

"Oh, wow, Emma… This is really good." She smiled and moved to hand it back, but Emma shook her head.

"No, I want you to keep it."

"Thank you." The brunette's appreciative smile was wide and white, easily reaching her eyes. "I should hang this up on my wall of student art."

"You have a wall?" Emma blinked, a sting of jealousy wringing through her at that thought. She wanted it to be special, but if it were to just hang up next to other artworks…

"I believe the question you are looking for is if I have other students' art. And the answer is no." Ms. Mills' smile faded somewhat as she brought out a tack to place the new artwork on the poster board by her desk. The only other items tacked to the board were a calendar and a paper that stated the school day schedule.

"No one's ever made you anything? I thought people did that?"

"For their favorite teachers. And, dear, let me tell you that I am no one's favorite." She rolled her chair back in place, eyes now locked on the partially eaten grilled cheese on her desk. Emma had noticed the tone that she had taken to her tone.

"That can't be all true."

"Obviously, I am not deaf, Emma." Ms. Mills still hadn't taken her eyes away from the sandwich. "I do realize that I can be harsh sometimes, but I take my teaching seriously. They do not understand that and so, my class gains a bad reputation because they think I hate them all." She sighed softly. "And that is why they call me names behind my back and leave my class."

"You can't be so sure. Maybe they didn't want to take this class. I should know. We just wanna take ones that promise easy grades so we have a smooth year." Emma shrugged, frowning at the way Ms. Mills' voice had shifted, as if she were afraid to speak her thoughts. It just made Emma's heart sink.

"No." Emma barely heard the negative comment. She leaned forward as Ms. Mills began to speak once again. "Mr. Booth's class grew. My students transferred, Emma. And it isn't just for Creative Writing."

"But we aren't allowed to switch teachers?" Emma furrowed her brows, wondering how the hell they would have done that. As far as she knew, the rules were still intact.

"They have their ways. Mr. Hopper is a pushover and when students come to him demanding they get a different teacher because they don't want to fail, well…" She chuckled darkly.

"Fuck," she mumbled.

"Language, Miss Swan, or have you forgotten that you're speaking with a teacher?" Ms. Mills quirked a brow, but the menace was absent.

"Sorry…"

"It's quite alright. I must apologize for telling you this. I shouldn't pour my grievances on you." She offered a tight, plastic smile before going back to her grilled cheese, making a mild look of distaste when she had found it cold.

"It's fine, honestly." Emma shrugged and played with a blonde lock that fell in front of her face.

"It's not, Emma. I've just…" Ms. Mills furrowed those perfectly sculpted eyebrows. "I haven't told anyone this, yet, and it's been brewing for a while now."

"Oh… I thought that you'd have more friends. I mean… Usually teachers are friends with each other being coworkers and all."

"Barely. I only talk with a few, but I can't call them friends." Ms. Mills chuckled and shook her head, then paused. "I find it easier to talk to you, though, for… some odd reason."

"I know. I mean, I _don't_ know, but I _do_."

"What the hell are you talking about, Miss Swan?"

Emma smirked and shook her head, completely losing her train of thought. "I know how you feel, that it's just so easy to talk, because that's how I feel with you. Maybe it's because I'm afraid of losing my friends and I just don't want to talk about the deep, personal stuff. It's… it's not that I don't care what you think of me- because I do. I really do… And… Oh, gods, I probably shouldn't have said that."

"I know what you mean, Emma. You want to confide in someone, but you're just unsure of who. I'm here and I'm willing to listen and… I really am, dear. I don't want you to think that I'm not. I do quite enjoy the company and, by your writing…"

"Yeah," Emma mumbled and bit her lip, cutting her off. "Thank you. I appreciate it. I just can't talk to Mary Margaret or David about it… I don't really think they'd wanna hear about it anyways. I mean, I guess, I don't really know if _you_ want to hear about it."

"I don't mind, Emma." Ms. Mills smiled softly. "You're a bright girl and I don't want you to burden yourself with these bottled-up emotions. It's not good and it can hinder you."

"And you," Emma suddenly said, breaking the eye contact that they had seemed to have connected themselves moments ago. "If… If you want to talk to me, you can. I know how it feels keeping things on the inside and I can only imagine what you have hidden underneath the Evil Queen."

"The Evil Queen?" Her brows rose now at the new term.

"My friend, Belle, she said people call you that... She took your class last year, I think. Belle French?" Emma tilted her head and smiled. "She means no harm. She liked you, well, _likes_ , you."

"Ms. French. I remember her. She was quiet. I quite enjoyed her work." Ms. Mills nodded slightly and shuffled through a stack of assignments on her desk. "And I have heard that term quite a few times, honestly."

"Yeah. She's pretty damned good, but she says I'm better. I don't think so." Emma wrinkled her nose slightly, remembering the compliment that her friend had told her earlier on in the year. "I take art with her, too. She's so much better at it than I am."

"That's unbelievable." Ms. Mills quirked a brow, her chestnut orbs sliding over to the piece of art that Emma had given her when lunch had started. "You're pretty good as far as I can see."

"Only when I do tiny projects." Emma shrugged nonchalantly. "Say, we're going to be starting to draw portraits in a week or two and I still need a picture. Uh..." She paused, snapping her mouth shut. What the hell was she doing?

"You are? Who are you going to use, or is it a self-portrait?"

"I wanted…" Emma blushed slightly and sat back in her seat. "I wanted to draw you."

Ms. Mills' eyes widened slightly and Emma thought she just looked stunning with those lips slightly parted in response.

"Really?"

"I mean, if you'd let me. I still have to snap a picture." Emma shrugged slightly and continued to blush. "I mean… If it makes you feel uncomfortable…"

"I-It's fine. You just… took me by surprise, is all." Then the corners of her mouth turned upward, the smile on her lips stealing the air right from Emma's lungs.

"So, you don't mind if I take your picture and draw that-... Your face?" Emma cleared her throat.

"Go right ahead, dear." Ms. Mills chuckled and watched as Emma pulled out her cell phone, then took a few steps away.

"Alright. Smile!"

And she did. And, _oh gods_ , that smile just killed Emma. She nearly dropped her phone right there as she felt her entire body just go _weak_. Swallowing thickly, she nodded and squeaked out a strained, "that's good," because that's all she could manage without looking like a damned fool. That woman was nearly smirking. Her eyes were sparkling with an almost devious shine and that smile was all too genuine.

Emma snapped the scene in front of her, a flash from her phone and a blinking teacher later, the blonde stared at the memory forever captured into the cellular device.

"Got it," she whispered.

"I didn't blink, did I?"

"No, you're perfect." Emma smiled, but it immediately dropped as soon as she realized what she had said. "I mean, it's perfect. See?" Then she held the phone up for Ms. Mills to look at the picture.

"I look like a zombie," she muttered.

Emma smiled in amusement because, no, she didn't look like a zombie, and yes, she was perfect. Soon Emma had slipped the phone back into her pocket and muttered her gratitude.

"What time is it?" The blonde furrowed her brows at the clock above the door, surprised that it had appeared way past the time fifth period would have been over. If the clock wasn't lying, it would be the middle of sixth period now and she was missing it. And how the hell hadn't she heard the bell? And why the hell was the class empty, considering it was sixth period?

"It's about two-" Then her own eyes widened. "It's sixth period."

"Government. I'm missing it." Emma frowned, not exactly caring that she was missing that class.

"I'll write you out a pass." Ms. Mills immediately responded, grabbing the little pad that sat on the corner of her desk. "You said Government, correct?"

"It's pointless to go." She shrugged. "I mean, I missed half the class and we usually just go over notes in that amount of time and do nothing after. By the time I get there, that's where they'll be."

Maybe if she could just convince her…

"You do have to go to class, Emma. The office will call your parents if you skip."

"I'm not skipping. And they're pretty understanding. All I have to say is that I was talking to you." Emma shrugged and played with a piece of her golden locks. "Why can't I just stay? It doesn't look like you have a class."

"It's my planning period." Ms. Mills' voice was soft as she pushed the pad away from her.

Emma quirked a brow. "Look, I've been here for half the class, just let me stay. I'll be good and go to class on Monday."

"Only this once, Emma." The brunette's lips twitched, despite the struggle of keeping that smile from coming.

"Thank you!"

"Not so fast," she chuckled.

"Sorry. Mr. Glass is just…" Emma shook her head and sighed, slumping back into her seat. She didn't know how to describe that man. He looked as if he didn't want to be there half the time, and that was probably why he usually only talked about notes on the board before going to his desk in the back corner.

"You have Mr. Glass?" Ms. Mills' eyes grew so large, Emma swore they were going to pop out of her skull.

"Yeah?"

"I can tell him that you're here. He'll mark you present." She rolled her chair over to the computer on the far corner of her desk, then picked up the phone that sat next to it. She dialed a few keys and waited, receiver up to her ear.

Emma wondered what the hell that was about.

"Hello, Sydney? ...Yes, this is Regina. I have a student of yours here with me… Yes. Emma Nolan." The brunette had this devious smirk on her lips, Emma couldn't help but to whimper softly at this new side. She had not one clue what kind of relationship was going on between the two and did she hoped that they weren't dating because that would confirm her fears. Emma didn't know if she could handle the truth.

She broke from her thoughts as the brunette teacher spoke into the phone, her voice sharp, unlike it had been when speaking with Emma.

"I would appreciate if you were to mark her present for your class… Yes, she won't be coming in today. Wh… If you feel so inclined to…. Yes, I will. Thank you. Goodbye." Then the receiver was back into its cradle as Ms. Mills rolled her chair over to Emma once again.

"I shouldn't tell you this, but I will anyways. He said he would mark you present, even if you aren't in the class. Of course, the exception being you have a sick day."

"Seriously?" Emma gawked at the new information. What the hell kind of control did she have over that man? They must be dating if she could so easily convince the man to do _that_.

"Yes. Seriously." Ms. Mills smirked.

"Is that an invitation to stay during sixth period, now?"

"No."

"Aw…" Emma whined softly, but the smile on her face gave her away.

"You still have to go to class despite the attendance record. You must pass that class in order to graduate, as I'm sure you know. Do not take advantage of this." She warned, arms crossing tightly over the black sweater she wore.

The blonde nodded, her fingers drumming mindlessly on her thighs. "I won't. I promise I won't."

"Good." Ms. Mills nodded and shuffled through the papers on her desk.

And then the words just spilled from Emma's mouth like verbal diarrhea and, _oh gods_ , she wished her mind was faster than her mouth. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"Pardon?"

"Like, are you two dating? I mean… You seemed-"

And then she started to laugh.

Emma swore if she could record Ms. Mills' laugh and play it back on repeat, she would never tire of it.

"No, dear. He seems to be infatuated with me for some odd reason. It's all unrequited."

She said that.

It was like she was worried to let Emma think she had this infatuation with Mr. Glass right back. But then she said _that_.

"Don't tell anyone. Although, I'm quite sure that most know… so I suppose it wouldn't exactly matter." She quickly butted into Emma's thoughts. "I don't want the students to tease him about this. It's probably hard enough since I… laughed in his face…" She frowned, a look ghosting over her features, but it only lasted a moment before her visage turned to stone.

"I won't. Trust me." Emma said, her tone light and airy.

"Thank you." Ms. Mills exhaled a breath that Emma was sure she didn't know she had been holding. "Keep this confidential. He's doing you a favor."

"And so are you. You're keeping me from his boring class. I don't want to sound like a bitch – pardon – or anything, but, it's like he doesn't want to be there."

"He probably doesn't." And that's all she said before nudging away from the topic. "You should probably get ready. The bell's about to ring and I know how far the art hall is from here." Ms. Mills flashed her that winning smile once again before standing up, her dark beige slacks tightening around her thighs as she did so. "I can give you a hall pass so you're able to get there faster."

"Thanks." Emma stood as well with her backpack, grunting at the weight of it. She quickly took the small pass that the teacher had given her and flashed a smile. "Thanks."

"You already said that, dear." The brunette chuckled melodically and followed Emma toward the door. "Go on before the bell rings. It's sixth, there's going to be a large crowd around here, soon." She urged, a gentle hand touching Emma's shoulder.

She was sure that Ms. Mills had felt the shiver coursing through her body from that one touch. She hoped that it would be passed off as a cold shiver. It _was_ rather drafty…

"Have a good day, Emma. I'll see you on Monday."

"Thanks. See you." Emma nodded and that smile, just like yesterday, could not be helped as she walked out the door and into the desolate hall. But she stopped, turned, and looked over to Ms. Mills who was now standing outside the door, holding it open against the wall. She shot her a confused look, but Emma merely smiled wider and waved.

"Have a good weekend, Ms. Mills." Then she shot off as the bell rang. She wasn't going to beat the traffic in the hallway, but she didn't mind so much. The genuine, and yet surprised, smile on the English teacher's face just made her day.

* * *

"Where the hell were you?" Belle immediately confronted Emma as the blonde took her spot in the art room. "Mr. Glass was boring as hell and I had no one to talk to."

"Sorry." Emma mumbled, a soft giggle slipping from her lips. "I didn't hear the bell ring and I ended up staying in Ms. Mills' room halfway through the period."

"Did she call Mr. Glass?"

"Yeah."

Belle smirked. "I knew it! I heard him say your name, but it was so quiet, because everyone else was talking. He said he'd mark you present?"

"Ms. Mills convinced him to, I guess." Emma smirked, knowing just why that was.

"Because he has this crush on her." Belle voiced her friend's thoughts.

"Wh-... How did you know?"

"Everyone knows, but they don't say anything. I mean, I don't think _everyone_. But the people who have seen those two talk to each other, it's clear. He'd do anything she says."

"Yeah, I've noticed." The blonde rolled her eyes.

Belle chuckled and took out her sketch book as the bell sounded, indicating the start of class. She nudged Emma knowingly. "You're jealous."

"No, I'm not," the blonde mumbled, doing the same with her own sketch book. She opened it to where they had left off yesterday.

"Oh, Em," the voice beside her suddenly spoke. "Did you get a picture?"

"Yeah."

"She let you do it?"

"Yeah."

"Tell me about it!"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Belle. Shut up."

"No. Tell me."

"Why?"

"I wanna know her reaction."

"Belle."

"Come on…"

"Shut up."

"Please."

"No."

"If you tell me, I'll shut up."

"... fine." Emma groaned and glared at her friend and her persistence. Why the hell was Belle so nosey? She wished Ruby were here sometimes, just so the little brunette would shut her mouth. With a shake of her head, she whispered, "she was surprised, but she didn't mind."

"Surprised?" Belle tilted her head, pausing her work. "How so?"

"I don't know." The blonde shrugged and pulled her phone out, hiding it underneath the table. She nudged Belle with her leg and smirked, the picture of Ms. Mills on her phone showed up.

"I've never seen her smile like that."

"It's probably her photo smile." Emma shrugged. "She knew I was drawing her."

"I would need you to put your phone away, Emma." The teacher, Ms. Boyd, had spoken as she passed by the two friends' table.

"Sorry, Ms. Boyd…" Emma mumbled and quickly shoved the device back into her pocket. It wasn't until the blonde teacher had glided away that she backhanded her laughing friend's arm.

"Shut up."

"I bet you're going to have that as your background by the end of the semester."

"No, I won't."

" _Okay…_ " Belle drew the word out, a knowing smirk on her lips.

"I hate you," Emma muttered, going back to their assignment.

Belle chuckled and mewled quietly before doing the same. "No, you don't."

* * *

"She has her picture!" Belle squealed, running over to the counter where Ruby was currently waitressing an older gentleman. The lanky brunette looked up, dark eyes widening in surprise at her friend's sudden outburst, then she smirked, knowing who and what she was speaking of.

Emma had trudged in behind Belle, grumbling about how many ways she could kill and dispose of both her friends.

"Look at sourpuss over there." Ruby puffed out her lower lip to mock the blonde as she slid onto one of the stools. "Come on, Em, lighten up!"

The waitress slid a mug of cinnamon hot cocoa in front of her and an iced tea in front of Belle who had occupied the spot next to the blonde.

"Shut up, guys," she grumbled and turned to Belle. "I told you not to tell her."

"I will as you tell me about this picture on your phone." Ruby smirked as Emma's other brunette friend just shrugged.

"It's for an art project."

"Sure it is."

"It actually is," Belle giggled. "The only reason why _I_ know who it was going to be, and is, is because she sits right next to me."

Emma shot her a glare, then looked up to Ruby who quirked a brow. "I'm drawing her. She agreed to let me use her face."

" _Uh huh_ …" Ruby licked her lips and bent over onto her elbows. "Did she like the grilled cheese?"

"It was cold," Emma muttered.

"Oh, shut up!" She swatted the blonde with a dish towel, only to roll her eyes when someone called for her. "I'll be back. Tell me the juicy gossip when I get back."

"You two are driving me _crazy_ ever since I told you." Emma shook her head. "Why are you always teasing me about it?"

"We aren't." Belle frowned. "I thought you were taking it better than this."

Emma shook the hand off her shoulder and played with the steaming mug of cocoa in front of her. "Well, I'm not! I shouldn't have told you. This is why I don't share my goddamned feelings."

"Whoa! What the hell did you do?" Ruby rose both her hands in the air defensively as she headed back over to her friends. "What's up, blondie?"

"You guys! You're just _constantly_ harassing me."

"Look, girl, we don't mean any harm." Ruby donned the same frown as Belle. She took the stool next to Emma and wrapped her arm around her shoulders. "You've never had a crush, or at least told us about it, before. We do this, you know? Tease each other when we have crushes."

"Yeah, but you just keep _pushing_ me towards her like something's going to happen. It's not," Emma finally muttered, glaring coldly at the cocoa as if it were the offender.

"We just thought this was what you wanted. We're supporting your efforts, Emma. I mean, I've never seen you so into someone before." Ruby continued, her voice light and sympathetic. "We can back off if that's what you want?"

"It'd be nice." Emma lay her head into her crossed arms.

"Are you still going to have lunch with her?" Belle asked softly.

"Yes," she answered quietly, yet honestly.

"You are?" Ruby raised her brows.

The blonde nodded. "Yeah. I can't just leave her alone for lunch."

"Have you already given up?" Belle asked quietly.

Then Emma stared at her. "What else am I going to do?"

"Ruby! Get your ass back to work and stop gossiping!" Granny shouted from across the diner upon spotting her granddaughter.

"Give me a sec!" Ruby whined and turned back to Emma as she slipped from the seat. A hand found its way on her back. "Don't give up," she whispered before heading off to resume her work.

"I'd drink to that." Emma playfully lifted her mug, bumping it with Belle's glass before downing the lukewarm cocoa. Her phone buzzed just as she set the mug down, causing her to groan and pull it out.

"It's Mary Margaret. I have to go."

"Oh, alright." Belle nodded and wrapped an arm around her friend. "Talk to you later?"

"Yeah." Emma nodded and paid for her drink before heading out of the diner, thumb moving over her phone as she replied to her mother.


	5. Falling into the Whirlwind

For the first time in _years_ , Emma Swan just wanted to get back to school. The brunette teacher was in her thoughts for most the weekend and she couldn't wait to see that woman's smiling face in person instead of just staring at the frozen version on her cellphone.

David had caught her staring at the small screen as they were sitting down to watch one of their favorite television programs on Friday night. Of course, Emma figured he would confront her once again about texting and staring at that screen for too long, and that she usually left that damn device in her bedroom during this time.

She feared for a few minutes as he loomed over her, the cell screen now black. She hoped he wouldn't take her phone because she had Ms. Mills' picture on there and there was no way to exit away from it with him breathing down her neck.

And currently, David had her phone in his hand, but not once pressing the button to wake it up. Emma was silently screaming profanities in her head, hoping to whatever higher being that he wouldn't try to snoop through her phone because as soon as he would turn it on, he would see the screen, and the screen was nothing but the smiling face of her creative writing teacher.

He would either ask who the hell that was or know immediately if he had become acquainted with her. This was a smaller town, after all. Mostly everyone knew each other. Mostly. So, there would still be a slim chance he didn't know who that was, but, he would probably still wonder why the hell his teenage daughter had a picture of a strange, older woman on her phone.

He'd probably have a brain aneurysm over the fact and collapse on the floor in a twitching mess. She just hoped he never dared to snoop through the device.

But he didn't. He just held it in his hand and gave her a stern look- or at least tried to. He never really mastered that.

"Emma, what have I told you about spending too much time on your phone? You could go blind from looking at this thing." He threatened, shaking Emma's phone in the air.

The blonde just watched his hand, glued to the black smartphone in it. "Sorry," she mumbled. "Graham was texting and I haven't heard from him in a while. He'll be coming down in a couple months as soon as he buys that car."

And that wasn't entirely a lie because, yeah, she _had_ been texting Graham, and yes, he would be coming down in a couple of months. Then, as if to support her explanation, the phone buzzed.

"See?"

"Well," he sighed and gave in, handing the phone back to his daughter. "Just don't stay on it for too long. Mary Margaret will be back soon with dinner and you know how she doesn't like technology at the table."

"I know." Emma sighed, swiping her finger over the screen to check the message.

"I'm going to the bathroom," he announced, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of her head.

Emma looked at him, her nose scrunching in disgust. "Thanks for the knowledge."

David chuckled and waltzed towards the bathroom, leaving Emma alone to her phone once again. She finally took the time to see the message that Graham had sent her and nearly lost her cool.

 _So, I talked to Belle. She seemed to have this little idea that you have the hots for the English teacher? ;)_

This was going to be a long, long weekend.

* * *

By the time that Monday had finally rolled around, Emma could cry. She was dressed and groomed in record time that morning. Mary Margaret was surprised when she saw Emma climbing down the stairs a whole twenty minutes before she usually would.

"Emma! You're up early." The brunette smiled and set her mug down. "Would you like me to make you breakfast?"

"You don't have to." Emma shrugged, not missing the look on her mother's face. She slumped her shoulders and took her seat at the counter. "Okay."

"Great! Do pancakes sound good?" She didn't give the blonde enough time to answer before she grabbed a frying pan from its spot and a box of pancake mix. "What's got you up so early?"

Emma watched the short-haired brunette bounce around the kitchen happily and it just made her heart expand in her chest.

"No reason, really. I was gonna go pick up lunch from Ruby again." Emma smiled when her mother looked over to her.

Then she asked, "don't you usually go later, though?"

"Yeah. I guess I…" Emma shrugged. She didn't want to tell the woman that she was just so excited to get the day started just to see Ms. Mills again. "I wanted breakfast, today. I know I haven't really been the best daughter, but I appreciate what you do for me," she said.

The smile that it earned melted Emma's heart. She was glad she could make someone feel happy like that, and it was worth it for all that said person had done to make she, herself, happy. "Don't say that! You _are_ a good daughter. You're just a teenager and I know they tend to forget to thank their parents."

"Yeah," she chuckled and licked her lips as the freshly made plate of pancakes had been sat in front of her. "Thanks, Mary Margaret." And with that, she shoved a forkful of the food into her mouth.

"You're welcome, Emma!" Mary Margaret smiled widely and moved forward to kiss her forehead. "I got to get to the school early to help a few students with their science projects." The brunette woman explained as she donned her coat and grabbed the purse hanging on the hook next to it.

Emma watched her and nodded, smiling slightly. "Oh, okay. Have a good day at work."

"I will, thank you. Enjoy your breakfast and have a good day at school. Love you!" She shouted, rushing out the door she managed to open.

"Love you." Emma awkwardly called after her.

Emma quickly finished up her breakfast and departed from the loft as well. It had cooled down incredibly outside, leaving a gentle nip in the morning air. Emma hugged herself, pressing the sweater's warm material closer against herself. At least it wasn't sweltering anymore, which had sucked trying to walk to school while swimming in sweat.

After coming to the agreement with Ms. Mills about eating lunch from then on in her room during fifth period, she had told Ruby to make her lunches every day without a call beforehand. The brunette had asked if she would be crazy enough to have grilled cheese every day. So, the waitress had decided she would surprise Emma with a different lunch every day, instead.

Emma had pestered her friend into telling her what she planned on making, but Ruby was reluctant to tell and said it would be a surprise. She also took it upon herself to leave more notes at the bottom of the bag, or so she said she would do that.

The blonde stopped by the diner, surprised to see that Ruby wasn't outside yet. Pulling out her phone from the kangaroo pocket, she checked the time, then quickly scrolled through to message her friend.

 _Here._

There was an immediate response, resulting in a scoff from Emma.

 _ **Someone excited to see her girlfriend this morning?**_

"Here." The blonde jumped upon seeing Ruby in front of her with a brown paper bag extended in her hand. "Don't peek until lunch, 'kay? It's a surprise."

Then she winked and god only knows what she had planned.

"I won't." The blonde rolled her eyes. "Thanks again, Rubes, I appreciate it."

"Of course! You know I'd do anything for you, Em." Ruby gave her a wolfish grin before wrapping her lanky arms around Emma, pulling away seconds later. "Have a _very_ good day." She winked once again before turning to head back into the diner.

Emma shook her head as she stuffed the lunch bag into her backpack, then turned to head off towards the school.

* * *

"God, Emma, _what_ is that _smell_?" Killian wrinkled his nose when Emma had opened her backpack for the first time. She snorted and shrugged in response, pulling the notebook out that they needed for the questions on the board.

"Lunch," she simply stated, inhaling the scent that permeated from the bag. It was spicy and made her mouth water. What the hell did Ruby make?

That only made him quirk a brow. "Lunch? Are you eating spaghetti or something?"

"I don't know. Ruby made it." Emma shooed away the prodding finger. "She told me not to look at it."

"Why not?" He pouted. "And since when did Ruby make you lunch?"

She rolled her eyes. "Stop being so nosey and let me do the assignment. I hate homework."

"Fine. But remember that our gym classes are merging together today for those fitness test things."

Emma just wanted to wipe that smug look off his face with a dirty gym sock. Of course, he would be so happy that, that would happen so he could bug her for another hour. As if three hours in the same room with her weren't enough.

She looked up and narrowed her eyes. "Make it a habit to stay away from me."

"No promises," he chirped.

"Emma! Killian! No talking during work time." Mr. Booth's voice shouted from his desk.

The blonde shot the boy next to her a glare before hastily answering the questions.

After first period, Emma had headed off to Algebra, of course with Killian trailing behind her. Why he had to take the same classes as the blonde, she never knew. It was annoying sometimes, but she did enjoy having someone to talk to during class, even if he were just a pig half the time.

Usually, in Mr. Spencer's class, she got an hour away from him, which she would normally not mind, but she had to sit next to one of the chattier girls who ended up talking to her friend all class period. It made her wish Killian was next to her instead, at least then, she'd get some peace. Thank whatever higher being that they had a test today, she wouldn't be going deaf in her right ear.

After taking the test in second period and spending the last ten minutes trying to find a way to muffle the shrill voice next to her, Emma nearly sprint to gym class. And, boy, by the time she was in the gym with the other students and Killian, she wanted it to be fourth period.

It felt odd, but she already missed hearing Ms. Mills' husky voice. It was nice. It was the only one that she never tuned out. She had it in deep and it hadn't even been two months that she had knowledge of that flawless woman's existence.

"Where are you at?" A male voice spoke beside Emma, causing her to slightly jump and glare at the disturbance.

"The hell, dude?"

"Jim called your name like thrice now." Killian smirked, prodding Emma's shoulder. "You're making this gaga face at the wall and we started to get scared."

"Shut up," Emma said before marching off to where her gym teacher stood.

Forty minutes later, Emma was on her way to paradise. She walked through the halls with a smile on her face, not giving a single care if someone were to notice. Nothing could ruin her elated mood because she was less than two minutes away from seeing her favorite teacher and her stomach was doing little, pleasant flips.

She was there before she knew it. When she looked around, she noticed that very few people were in the classroom. She wondered how many people decided to finally drop. But upon further inspection of the clock, she discovered it to be way before the time she would normally come in. How the hell did she make it to the class so fast?

Emma shrugged that away and took her seat at the back of the classroom. Ms. Mills wasn't there. Where was she? Her coat was there, and so was the little paper cup she usually had on the corner of her desk.

 _Good, she's here today._

One minute before the bell and the teacher still wasn't there. _Where was she?_ Now Emma's eyes were glued to the door, her stomach jumping every time it opened, only to fall when it was just another one of her classmates.

The bell then tolled and, still, Ms. Mills was not to be found. Emma frowned and slumped in her seat, quietly watching the door as the other students took advantage of the lack of their superior and talked.

Then the door opened and in came…

 _Oh fuck_.

In stepped the principle, Mr. Gold.

What happened to Ms. Mills? Her things were here, but she wasn't, and the principal was.

 _Oh Gods, something bad happened._

Mr. Gold limped over to the podium, a slight smirk on his face as the students immediately quieted upon his presence. He cleared his throat and widened his smile. She waited for the inevitable, but her frazzled nerves were wasted for naught as he replied away her fears.

"Ms. Mills will not be here for this period. She is currently in a meeting. But do not fear." His voice just sounded devious and she wondered why they let such a crocodile of a man become the principal of the school. "I am going to take her place for the hour. She has a study guide for you, so I do suggest you take out a writing utensil. Shall we get started?"

Then it hit her, as the man passed out a paper for today's notes, that Ms. Mills might not make it to lunch.

But the meeting really shouldn't last _that_ long. She could always stay in here despite her absence and wait until she did show up.

That worked.

She would do that, Emma thought as she filled in the space below each question. The blonde allowed her thoughts to veer away from her teacher so she could quickly complete the study guide. Hopefully that would take her to the end of the period. She didn't like sitting too long in a room with Mr. Gold in it. That man just creeped her out.

And it did take the entire period, finishing up all twenty questions.

Emma looked up from her spot to the clock, one minute before the bell rang. Her eyes skated around the room to find that everyone else was either still working on the sheet or packed up and ready to go. Then her eyes landed on Mr. Gold sitting in Ms. Mills' desk, one of her pens between his fingers as he tapped it against the hard surface.

She shuddered and shoved the study guide into her backpack which, upon opening, allowed the aroma of her lunch to hit her, causing her stomach to growl. Oh, she was hungry and that smelled so _good_. She was seconds away from finding out what the hell Ruby had packed for her after the bell had finally rung.

Emma stayed in her spot like she usually did as every other student filed out of the room. She reached down as the last student left to pull out the paper bag when she noticed that Mr. Gold was still there and he was standing beside her with a quirked eyebrow.

"Isn't it time to go, Ms. Nolan?" He asked, arms crossing over his chest.

"I have to ask Ms. Mills a question." Emma easily lied, her green eyes on the principal's face.

Mr. Gold nodded with a sound that barely acknowledged what she said, then he said, "she'll be a while. I recommend that you ask her in class tomorrow." And he continued to stare at her until she got up, sighing in defeat, and trudged to the door. There was no sense in arguing with this man.

"Have a good day, Ms. Nolan," he murmured as he followed behind her.

Emma had stopped in the middle of the English hallway, her eyes on the man as he limped toward the opposite direction. He locked the door so the blonde was forced to sit outside, her back against the cold wood.

It felt like it had been hours when Ms. Mills had finally arrived about twenty minutes later, her pumps clicking on the tiled ground as she sashayed towards the classroom. Then she stopped in front of Emma, and _oh gods_ , those legs were deliciously long and tan.

 _Don't stare. Don't stare. Don't stare._

She kept repeating the mantra, trying to pry her eyes away from the skin that hadn't been covered by that skirt of hers. Green eyes met surprised brown, and she smiled so sheepishly she must have looked like a damned schoolgirl.

 _Oh, wait._

"You waited for me?" Ms. Mills finally asked.

Emma nodded and hoisted herself from the ground so she could move out of the way. "Yeah. Mr. Gold told me to leave and he locked the door."

Once the door was open, she followed the brunette inside, her backpack slung over one shoulder. She instinctively went to her usual desk and moved the chair to sit next to Ms. Mills' as soon as she sat. Then she took her own seat, finally removing the paper bag from her pack.

"What did you tell him?" There was a hint of worry in that husky voice of hers and that made Emma's heart drop.

She shook her head. "I figured you wouldn't want me to tell him about lunch, so I just said I needed to ask you a question."

"Thank you." Relief flooded over the teacher's visage. "I don't think he'd really allow us to eat lunch together casually."

"I understand." Emma nodded.

"Good." Ms. Mills smiled and it made Emma's heart flutter. "Did you bring lunch?"

"Yeah! Ruby made something different. I don't know what it is, though," she stated, opening the bag with a dubious smile.

"It smells divine." The teacher commented, inhaling deeply, and that just made her chest strain against the tight jacket that she wore.

Emma took all her might to peel her eyes away from the bits of exposed cleavage and brought out two white, Styrofoam containers. The blonde quickly opened the top one to reveal…

" _Lasagna_?" Emma breathed incredulously. "What the hell, Rubes?"

Ms. Mills chuckled. "Well, she has certainly outdone herself this time."

Emma scowled slightly at the container before peering into the bag, her eyes immediately finding the infamous note.

 _Your girlfriend loves lasagna. Give her the labeled one. Trust me. ;)_

Moving the top takeout box to look at the bottom one, she hoped to find whatever the label was. And there it was, no doubt, with a big heart on the top of it.

"Fuck you, Ruby." She thoughtlessly crumbled the bag up and tossed it into the garbage bin next to the teacher's desk. The actions caused Ms. Mills' brows to raise.

"Sorry," she sheepishly said, pushing the labelled container over to Ms. Mills who, yet again, raised her brows.

"She said to give you this one. I don't know."

She immediately opened it revealing another piece of lasagna that looked the same as Emma's.

Then a fork was taken to the square as Ms. Mills began to dig in. The slight groan of surprise that slipped from her lips had Emma grasping her chair as unwanted tingles shot straight to her center.

"What is it?" she quickly asked, trying to ignore the blush that would no doubt be noticeable to the English teacher.

Ms. Mills grinned and showed her the lasagna square. "It has pepper flakes in it. That's just how I like it. She must have remembered."

"Did she now?" Emma grit as she stabbed her own piece a little too violently. She wished she had known that Ms. Mills liked lasagna. She wished she knew she liked spicy things. That damn salad never told her anything. Stupid salads.

Then she spoke, and all bad thoughts about mauling Ruby dissipated, "How was your day, Emma?"

"It was boring. And annoying. Killian was being his usual perverted self again during gym," she muttered.

"Killian Jones?" Ms. Mills asked softly, her head tilted.

Emma nodded, but then froze. Oh _yeah_. Killian was the one that had touched her ass, or so he said, and her world just came crashing down around her.

"I'm sorry for what he did to you," she blurted.

That earned an eyebrow raise.

"He told me he touched your butt or something and you sent him to detention."

" _Oh._ " She started to laugh. "He never did that, but he tells everyone he did. He _actually_ touched a _boat_ , but he was mocking the word from that Disney film. I do suppose it would be like him to go around gloating that he touched 'the' butt."

"Oh." Emma had totally misinterpreted what he had said. But then he just readily agreed that he had sexually harassed her. "Goddamn him. He shouldn't be staring at your ass. No one should be."

Those words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Because that was the second half of the little argument she had with him. He virtually said he had stared at her ass and that just angered Emma to no end.

"I…" Ms. Mills couldn't seem to find her words.

"Sorry. I-I mean… He was saying that and… I think he misinterpreted what I said and… George, shut me up." Emma slunk her head onto the desk. "I need music."

"M-Music?" Ms. Mills had finally sputtered.

"Mind if I play some while we eat?" She asked politely, pulling her phone out and setting it on the desk. Ms. Mills shook her head, in which Emma immediately woke her phone up to go to the music player. "Do you like rock?" Emma asked, scrolling through the media list, pausing on a title.

"I do, yes." The teacher nodded her head as the blonde pressed play on the song.

"I like you even more, Ms. Mills." Emma smirked and leaned back in her chair, consuming the cold lasagna.

A song started to play through the otherwise quiet room and Ms. Mills just stared at the cellular device.

"Do you not like it?"

"Oh, no. I've just… It's nice," she finally said, a tight smile on her lips. "I need it after that meeting."

"What was that about, anyways? If you don't mind my asking." The blonde asked curiously, hoping that it wouldn't be considered too snoopy. "I mean it was random to have during a class period."

"Oh. _That_. Well, they were discussing how my classes are, since I have had a few complaints and several drop-outs since the beginning of the semester. Also, they're trying to get me to be 'less intimidating' and 'more approachable.'"

"Less intimidating?" Emma snorted. "You're not intimidating at all."

That caused Ms. Mills to blink. "You don't think so?"

"No, of course not! They're just scared that they won't pass your class because of the rumors and the whole Evil Queen thing. I mean, I've got an A in this class, so I don't know what they're worried about." She shrugged. "And, besides, you're only doing your job. It's everyone else's fault for not paying attention."

She smiled. It was a soft, tentative one, but she smiled.

"I'll just have to ease up a bit on my grading scale, I suppose." Ms. Mills sighed. "I've been doing this for over five years and just now they decide to change my methods. It'll be difficult."

Emma smiled. "You'll do great. I'll give you free advertising if you want. Tell 'em that you're a pretty cool teacher, but everyone else's 'bad' attitudes were getting in the way."

"You'd do that?"

" _Mhm_!" Emma nodded. "I wish I could have you as a teacher next semester, too. I mean, this sucks… only one semester. Yours is the only class that I don't fall asleep in."

"How flattering." Ms. Mills smiled and chuckled. "I am certainly glad that you think so."

The blonde shrugged and grinned in return. "And you're the only one that I find inviting enough to eat lunch with. I don't know why everyone finds you so intimidating. Look at Mr. Spencer. Now _he's_ intimidating."

"Now, that's my colleague." The brunette chuckled anyways.

"Sorry." Emma laughed as well. She had to learn to use a filter around Ms. Mills. She kept forgetting that she was talking to her teacher and not just some friend. It was weird, but she also suspected that the brunette had felt the same while talking to her.

With a soft and content sigh, she leaned back against her chair once again. Then the inevitable came. The bell rang.

"Shit- aki mushrooms." Emma popped out of her seat, quickly gathering the trash, only to be stopped by an olive hand.

"I'll get it. You go. I know how far your government class is." Then she flashed a reassuring smile that had Emma quickly shove her phone into her pocket and grab her bag so she could leave.

"Thanks," she murmured, speed-walking toward the door.

"Have a good day, Emma, and thank you for lunch." She heard a husky voice call out after her. All the blonde could do was reply with " _mhm_ " which had left her unsure whether the teacher had heard her.

Emma reached the government classroom just in time to hear the announcement about a test. She didn't know that they had a test. She had forgotten over the weekend and her impatience to see Ms. Mills again. That meant she'd just have to wing it and probably get a low grade.

It wasn't until art class, about an hour later, that Belle spoke to Emma.

"How was the lasagna?"

"You knew?" Emma narrowed her eyes at the brunette next to her, a scowl on her face, because, of course she would know. It seemed that she'd been hanging out with Ruby more often than not anymore.

The usually quiet girl nodded in response to the question, her eyes focused on the papers in front of her.

"So, how was it?" she asked again.

"Good-"

"Did Ms. Mills like her special slice?" And there was a knowing twinkle in her eyes.

"Why did you two do that?"

"What?"

"The special piece and the heart and shit?"

"Because we know you nearly choked the last time you tried the spicy kind and every time Ms. Mills comes into the diner, she orders that." Belle shrugged as if it were simple.

"But why the heart?"

She didn't answer that question and Emma knew why. "I thought I told you to not play matchmaker?"

"We aren't. It was just a label."

"It was a _heart_."

"So? Did she say anything?"

"No. But that does-"

"Then you're fine. Leave it alone."

"You two are annoying." Emma rolled her eyes, but allowed a playful smile on her lips.

"We know." Belle chuckled. "Did she like it?"

"Yeah. You know what she did?"

"What?"

Just thinking about that noise that Ms. Mills had made upon tasting the lasagna caused her to blush. "Nothing. Never mind..."

"Oh, come on!"

"Just… never mind. Leave it alone."

"My God, Em, you're blushing!"

"Shhhh!" Emma shrunk against her chair and poked at the paper with an ebony pencil.

"Sorry." But she really wasn't.

"Whatever." Emma rolled her eyes, staring at the paper in front of her. "I thought we were drawing faces. What the fuck is this shit?" She pointed to the paper between her and Belle that had a picture of a boy sitting in a chair on it.

"We're doing scaling and proportions. It's supposed to help with the project." Belle shrugged and held up a piece of paper. "Haven't you been paying attention?"

"Well, yes. No?"

"Thought so." Belle chuckled. "Now, shut up. We need to get this done. You're already behind."

"Yeah, yeah…" Emma sighed and began to do the assignment.


	6. National Lasagna Day

After a while, lunches with Ms. Mills had become regular. Emma always stayed after class and the brunette never protested. Most of their lunches were filled with idle conversation, while some were just sat in companionable silence. At times, the two would get into deeper conversations, and Emma had suspected that the teacher was more comfortable with her by now.

During one of the lunch hours, it was another Monday and the blonde had decided to dub it as 'lasagna day', Emma had brought out another container of the meal. Ruby must have made it a Monday thing and that didn't really bother Emma any, since the look of joy on Ms. Mills' face was enough to make up for the meal she wasn't so fond of. And of course, the noises she made upon tasting the spicy dish.

The murmur of satisfaction that rumbled in the brunette's voice had the blonde so distracted that she hadn't heard the question the brunette had asked after finishing her swallow of food.

"I-I didn't catch that. What did you ask?" Emma's cheeks burned a deep shade of pink and she was quite sure it was noticeable. If the teacher _had_ noticed, she didn't say anything.

The words that left Emma's lips made Ms. Mills chuckle. "I asked if you had any plans after high school. Do you plan on leaving Storybrooke?"

"Oh, yeah." Emma blinked and sat straight in her seat, her plastic fork absentmindedly poking at the half-eaten lasagna square.

"Oh?" The brunette tilted her head.

Emma just looked at her with a blink, marveling in the way that Ms. Mills had given her undivided attention.

"Where do you plan on going?"

"Sorry, I wasn't… My mind isn't here today." Emma mumbled sheepishly, playing with the end of her ponytail. "I want to go to Boston. Graham and I decided to join the police force up there together. I mean, of course I ought to go to college and I hope I get accepted into the one Graham's at," she babbled mindlessly.

"Pardon me, but who's Graham?" Ms. Mills asked politely, pushing her thick, black-framed glasses up.

"Oh, Graham. He's one of my friends. I think we hit it off 'cause he wanted to join the police force, too." The blonde elaborated. She couldn't help but to study her teacher's face. She saw _something_ flicker through those muddy orbs of hers, but Emma didn't quite catch it. "He's actually supposed to be coming down here in a couple of months to tell me all about it. Well, he's supposed to visit all of us, but I'm gonna make him tell me about what it's like up there and what his apartment's like. I'm gonna move in with him."

"I see." Ms. Mills smiled. "I do wish you good luck and I hope that you get accepted."

"Thanks." She gave her a sheepish smile, her fingers working at the seam of her jeans.

"I'm quite sure that it would be nice if you were able to go to the same school as your boyfriend. He is your boyfriend, correct?" The brunette's smile wavered.

Emma tilted her head, closely eyeing the new look on the older woman's face. She still couldn't guess what it was, the teacher was masked into a poker face, but what she had said just made the blonde laugh.

And laugh she did. It was a funny thing that she would automatically assume that Graham was her boyfriend. Emma did suppose that it must have sounded like that upon talking about him.

Oh, little did Ms. Mills know about her.

"No, no he isn't." The blonde chuckled, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down. "He's like a brother to me, actually." _And I'm totally gay, so no, he isn't my boyfriend_ , she added silently.

"Oh! I do apologize for assuming." The corner of the teacher's mouth slightly turned upwards, her visage filled with something that of mortification.

"It's alright." She shrugged nonchalantly, but wore a slightly smug smile. "Anything else you wanna know?"

"Yes. Tell me, please, what made you decide that you want to join the police force? I'm intrigued to learn."

Emma bit her lip and hesitated before she finally answered.

"I wanna take the criminals off the street, the ones that can just get away with stuff. Like, _really_ bad stuff. There are all kinds of sickos still running around because people don't have enough evidence pinned on them to throw their asses in jail and it's ridiculous. I want to squeeze the information out of those jerks and, after I'd be through with them, they'd _want_ me to throw their asses in jail. People like… Never mind." She shrugged and leaned back against her chair once again, slightly slumping into it.

"I understand." Ms. Mills smiled softly, her head tilted.

"Also, I think it'd be pretty cool to carry a gun around." The blonde flashed a cheeky smirk, trying to lighten the mood that had somehow darkened.

"Yes. I suppose that would be nice." Ms. Mills smiled. "So, you said that you would be going to Boston? Is your friend going to take you or your parents?"

"Oh, neither." The blonde shrugged, then grinned. "Mary Margaret said if I got good grades this year, she'd give me her old Bug. I'll be taking that and, then, I won't be stuck wherever I'm at all the time."

"That's nice of her." She grinned. "How are your grades so far, if you don't mind my asking?"

Emma shrugged. "I don't mind. And, uh… I guess I'm doing pretty good. But I think I'm falling a bit behind in Gov. Those tests get me."

"Oh? Well, if you do need help with your government class, I would be more than happy to help. That was one of my favorite subjects- aside from English and literature." Ms. Mills offered, finishing up her lunch with a few swift bites.

"Really? I'd appreciate that." The blonde's face instantly lit up. She had been = worried about her grade in that class. It was an easy course, but it was poorly taught and the information didn't stick. She knew only half the answers on the test and had to guess on the others.

"It's really no problem, dear."

"You should tell me why you decided to become a teacher," Emma suddenly said, once again sitting up to meet the teacher's chocolate gaze, "since I told you my reason."

"Oh." She looked surprised by the demand, her eyes widening ever so slightly. When she spoke, there was no hesitance to her voice. Emma could tell that she really did have a strong passion for her job. And that just made it so much worse that those students treat her the way they do.

"I've always loved children. I know that you guys aren't exactly children, per say, but I… enjoy giving knowledge to others. I've always had a passion towards writing and language arts as a whole, though, and didn't initially think about becoming a teacher." She removed her glasses and cleared off a smudge before setting them aside. She smiled sadly now, even though Emma knew she tried to hide it. "I wanted to become a writer. And if that hadn't worked out so well, I figured that perhaps getting a job in journalism would suit me better. But…"

"What happened?" Emma frowned as her teacher had trailed off.

The teacher sighed and frowned, her voice quiet and slightly gruff. "It… didn't work out. I tried, but everything that I sent in got denied. I was in college at the time, anyway and… My… mother had insisted that I needn't waste my time with the writing business, and I guess she was right. It didn't end well, and now, I don't really mind. I do quite enjoy my job. I enjoy… moments like this. I like the way some students are inclined to make art for me. Every aspect is unique and makes me love my job more.

"But, recently, everything had gone downhill, as you can see." Ms. Mills played with the thin, leather watch on her wrist, lightly biting her lip as she had done so. "By the way, I had never asked, Emma, what did your art teacher say about your projects for me?" Her gaze glanced over to the artwork that Emma had made her weeks ago. It was still tacked proudly to the board.

Emma shrugged. "She didn't see that one. Didn't you wonder how I brought it to you the next day? Oh, wait… I suppose that you didn't know that we were assigned the project the day before."

"She didn't see it?"

"Nope! We had to draw _our_ names, and anyways, I would have figured that it would be weird to hand that in. No offense or anything," Emma implored, a soft blush on her cheeks. "It was hard, because I had Belle sniffing down my neck while I tried to do it. So, I took it home to finish _that_ one for you."

"I see." Ms. Mills flashed her a sweet smile. "I really do appreciate that you would do that for me."

"Of course!" Emma grinned as well.

"Although, if you didn't want her to know you were doing projects on me, why use me as your subject?" She now tilted her head with furrowed brows. "Wouldn't she know, then?"

"She's pretty new." The blonde shrugged. "She might not know who you are. You're in different departments, after all, and this school is bigger than I thought. I know some teachers that have no clue other teachers even exist. I mean, do _you_ know every teacher?"

"No, I suppose not." The English teacher looked thoughtful.

The teen nodded to her teacher. "She might think you're an actress or something. I mean, you're super pretty."

Ms. Mills looked at her with wide eyes, surprise evident on her features. Then something flickered over her face, but it was gone so fast, Emma wasn't able to process her thoughts.

"I mean, you know, I'm sure you know that you're pretty." She shrugged, trying to play it off cool, but Emma totally knew that she wasn't kidding herself. She screwed up.

"Thank you." The brunette pressed her lips together, mocha orbs fixed on her wristwatch once again before she spoke. "You should start getting ready. The bell is about to ring."

"Thanks," Emma said quietly, feeling embarrassed as hell about what she had just said.

"I don't want you to be late to your favorite class." The brunette smirked playfully and Emma's heart leapt.

"No, I mean, thanks for telling me that. What you said, earlier." She offered her a smile as she stood, gathering the trash items once again. "And, thanks for that, too."

"Of course, dear." She smiled lightly, a look of gratitude etched on her features.

Emma bent to grab her backpack, slinging it over her right shoulder. "And, hey, I, I enjoy these moments, too. Talking with you. It's nice. It's kinda freeing. Even if I spew vocal diarrhea all over the place," she whispered softly before turning towards the door, her feet thumping on the ground as she left.

"Have a good day, dear." She could practically _hear_ Ms. Mills' smile through her words. She didn't even need to look behind her, but she did anyways. The brunette wore one of the largest grins that she had ever seen her put on. Her perfect white teeth were peeking through her full red lips and it reached her eyes.

"You too, Ms. Mills. And thank you, again. I appreciate it."

"Any time, Emma."

Then she left with a large smile of her own.

* * *

"What's got you all smiley today?" Ruby had asked her blonde friend as she replaced Emma's empty mug with a fresh refill of cinnamon cocoa.

"Nothing," she hummed, taking a sip of her cocoa.

"Nothing my ass, Emma. You _never_ smile _that_ much. And Belle said that you've been walking around with that big-ass grin on your face for the past three hours."

Emma huffed and glared at her other friend who shot her an apologetic look. No matter how hard she tried and how hard she begged for Belle to not tell Ruby a thing, she always did, even if it were indirectly like this. Perhaps she should have just gone home directly after seventh period. But Belle had insisted she come down to the diner with her to talk with Ruby while she was on her break.

That was about two hours ago.

She had messaged Mary Margaret that she would be out for a while with her friends and would probably miss dinner since they both had insisted that she _must_ stay. She really didn't understand those two sometimes. They seemed to always have _something_ up their sleeves.

And now, here she was, waiting. It was past five now. She'd surely be missing dinner. Hopefully Ruby planned on buying her a meal.

Plus, they kept pestering her about how full of smiles she was. She tried too hard to just rid herself of the smile spread across her lips, trying to think of dead things or the way her friends were frustrating the hell out of her. But, to no avail, her mind always wound up on Ms. Mills once again and that grin that she had given her before Emma's departure.

"Come on, Em!" Ruby playfully whined, flicking at her friend's golden mane. "You never tell us _anything_ anymore!"

"Yeah," Belle finally piped up, nodding with the waitress. "You don't even tell me what you ate for lunch."

"That's because you already know." Emma quirked a brow at her friend.

"But, still, Em. You gotta share some juicy stuff with us. We're your best friends." The brunette waitress bumped her shoulder against Emma's own. "You've, like, clammed up on us every time we speak of _her_. Did something go wrong?"

"No." Emma was willing to divulge that much.

Both Belle and Ruby raised their brows, then glanced at each other before the latter spoke.

"Did you two, y'know, kiss?"

And that sent Emma's cheeks aflame. She hid herself in her cocoa, trying her best to ignore her friends' stares. Really, she didn't have anything to hide nor be embarrassed about. She never kissed her teacher. But, yet, she was acting like some fruity teenager who had been caught macking on their significant other.

"Oh my god." Ruby's eyes widened, her jaw slack. "You did, didn't you? You sly bitch!" Then her elbow was jabbing into Emma's ribs uncomfortably.

"Way to go, Ems!" Belle whooped and high fived the waitress over Emma's slumped form.

"No," the blonde mumbled.

"No?" Then they silenced, staring at Emma incredulously.

"Seriously? Like, _seriously_ , seriously? You're telling me that you _didn't_ lip lock with the hottie English teacher?" That was Ruby. Emma lifted her head and shook it quietly.

"No. And I don't understand why you'd think that I would. This is strictly a platonic thing." The blonde shrugged, even though her shoulders felt heavy.

"Aren't you using fancy language?" Ruby mocked, smirking down at her friend, but that had only earned her a glare. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I just figured-"

"There's really no 'just figuring' with this. And, look, I gotta go." Emma sighed, sliding out of her stool. "I've got to get this stupid government homework done and I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I need internet."

She could see Ruby look over to Belle, her head jerking as if she were gesturing to something.

"No, no!" Belle hopped up and blocked Emma's path, earning her a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"You have to stay." The brunette pleaded, grabbing Emma's arm. "Come on. Just a little while more, okay?"

"Why? I don't see the point in this and I'm hungry." Emma grumbled, but obliged. She might as well play along with whatever little game that they had planned.

She looked up at Ruby as if questioning her about what the hell was going on, but as soon as she did, the waitress fumbled in her spot.

"I gotta go waitress…" And she scuttled off to the table by the left window at the front of the diner.

"I don't understand what you guys are doing." Emma drifted her gaze to Belle who had now remained oddly quiet. She sat on the stool next to the blonde, playing with the hem of her dress. She looked so awkward. Whatever Ruby had run off to do must have been _the thing_ that they were keeping her here for. After seeing or getting whatever the hell it was, she could go home. She loved her friends dearly, but they bugged the hell out of her sometimes.

"Just wait," the petite brunette replied.

"Wait. That's all I've been-"

"Emma!" Ruby's voice rang behind her. When the blonde turned to face the lanky waitress, she was met with a wolfish grin; one that held a secret. "Go to the table over there." She pointed past Emma to the table where she had just been at. The blonde quirked a brow and looked at the inhabitant. She couldn't see their face since a large newspaper had been hiding it.

"Who is that? Why the hell do I want to go to a stranger?"

"Not a stranger, Em!" Ruby gave the blonde a gentle push out of her seat. "Go on. Bring your bag and thank me later."

When Emma turned around, Ruby was headed across the diner to proceed working. Belle now left her stool and flashed Emma a knowing smile before heading towards the exit.

She furrowed her brows and headed over to the occupied table. For some reason, she felt nervous. Her palms were slightly sweaty and her hands shaky. Why the hell was she nervous?

"Uh… excuse me. Is this seat taken?" She spoke, her voice giving her away.

"No, it's-" The person dropped the newspaper from their face to reveal a surprised visage. "Emma!"

"Ms. Mills? What are you doing here?" The blonde blinked. How the hell did they even get the brunette teacher here in the first place?

She caught sight of Ruby and gave her one of her best glares.

"I usually eat dinner here every Monday night around this time," the teacher answered, removing her glasses to sit next to the newspaper. "What about you?"

"O-oh…" Emma bit her lip and scuffed a shoe on the ground. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. "I was hanging out with my friends. Remember how I told you Ruby was a waitress here?"

"Oh, yes. That I do." Ms. Mills gave her a warm smile. "Oh! Where are my manners? Why don't you take a seat?" She gestured towards the spot across from her, but Emma hesitated.

"I don't want to disturb your dinner."

"It's quite alright, dear. I insist." The teacher offered her a reassuring smile.

"If you're sure." Emma took the spot, sitting stiffly with her backpack on her thighs. "This feels weird."

"I'm sorry. I know I'm not the most amiable person to talk to."

"No. It's not that. It's, I don't know." Emma shrugged, nibbling anxiously on her lower lip. "I should, I should probably go. I've got homework due tomorrow."

"Of course, I wouldn't want to keep you from that." Emma could hear the way her tone had changed.

"I can stay a while longer, I… guess." Emma blushed slightly. "If you don't mind?"

"No, of course not!"

"Thank you."

"You can do your homework here, if you wish."

"Oh… Uh, if you don't mind."

"Not at all. I would love to help." The teacher grinned, gazing up to Ruby who had set a cool glass of soda in front of her. She murmured a thank you and took a sip just as the waitress gave Emma another cinnamon cocoa, winking as she did so.

"You're dead, Ruby." Emma managed to mutter into her friend's ear before she sauntered off. Oh, she would totally be dead for doing this to her. Why the hell did she want to watch Emma just _suffer_?

"What do you have?"

"Hot cocoa with cinnamon." Emma glanced up after pulling her notebook from the pack.

"For homework, I mean." Ms. Mills chuckled and reached down to pick her glasses back up. Slowly, she slipped them on, chestnut orbs on the papers in front of the blonde. "Perhaps I could assist you."

"I have government. But, it's fine. I can use the internet."

"Isn't that called cheating, Emma?" The brunette quirked one of her perfectly plucked brows. "Come on. Let me see it."

Emma looked at the woman across from her for a moment before letting out a defeated sigh and handed over her homework. Ms. Mills gently plucked it from her hand and read over it with a thoughtful expression. Emma couldn't help but to stare at her as she had done so. Holy hell. Her eyes were like goddamn magnets towards this woman.

She continued to watch curiously, enjoying the way the heat from her cocoa permeated through the cup and warmed her hands as she held the mug close. Ms. Mills looked as if she were so intrigued by what that stupid little paper said, or so she thought, since her eyes seemed to absorb the entire thing. Her lower lip disappeared into her mouth, Emma noticed, biting her own. The brunette could pull off the most captivating of looks. The blonde was sure that Regina Mills was the only woman on earth that could look sexy while reading a teenager's government homework.

She was certain, Emma thought as she took a long, refreshing sip of cocoa. Her eyes wandered down from the teacher's face to… _Sweet mother of god_. The brunette's blood red, silk button up blouse had its top few buttons undone, which exposed just enough of the older woman's cleavage to have Emma's mouth nearly watering. All things logical flew out the window.

She was dumbstruck and she couldn't peel her eyes away. Oh, Gods, help her now. Where was Ruby when you needed her?

"This seems simple." Ms. Mills' husky voice broke the blonde from her temporary trance, which of course, caused her to nearly fall out of her seat and spill the cocoa all over her front.

"Oh, shit!" Emma cried, setting the mug down to look down at her soiled jacket. "Oh great! _Just great_."

"Oh, my. Emma, are you alright?" The English teacher was up immediately, grabbing napkins to help clean the messy liquid up. Ruby was over in no time, _tsking_ at her friend with a dish towel.

"Really? You're just making my job much harder, Em."

"Oh, shut up, Ruby. It was _your_ demon cocoa that spilled all over me."

" _Sure._ " Ruby gave her a knowing smirk.

"I think we've got it all, Rubes." Emma raised her brows at her friend, handing her the soiled dish towel. "Now sashay away."

"Really, girl?" Ruby rolled her eyes and leaned closer to Emma, her lips right next to the blonde's ear as she whispered. "The next time you decide to stare at her tits, make sure you aren't holding anything."

The waitress sashayed away, leaving a flustered Emma behind. Of course, she'd been watching. That was just like her.

"Are you alright, Emma?" Ms. Mills asked, placing the napkins back onto the table. Her eyes inspected the blonde.

"Yes, thank you."

"Your clothes are all ruined." She frowned slightly.

"Eh, it's just my hoodie." The blonde shrugged and shucked the article of clothing off, leaving her in a thin, white tank top. "See? All good."

"If you say so, dear." Ms. Mills licked her lips, turning to replace herself in her designated chair. "Now, as I was saying, Emma."

"Yes?" Emma had done the same, though she scooted to the edge of the chair with green eyes fixed on the brunette's flawless olive face.

"All of the answers to this are fairly easy. I assume you have paid attention, yes?" When there was hesitance in Emma's response, the teacher clucked her tongue. "Alright… Well, for this top section here; true or false. It's a fifty-fifty chance. Why don't you try to answer them to the best of your ability and I shall check the answers upon your completion?"

"Alright," the blonde muttered, nodded, and grabbed her homework. Digging a pencil out of her bag, she looked over the questions. True or false. Simple enough.

After several pencil taps and ten true or false questions later, Emma had finished, pushing the paper across the table for Ms. Mills to check over her work. She was sure she got every single one of them wrong, and by the way the teacher had her brows scrunched together just proved it.

"Sorry I suck," she mumbled.

"You don't… suck, Emma." Whisky colored eyes met emerald. "You did much better than you give yourself credit for. You're a smart girl, Ms. Swan. Do not put yourself down." She slid the worksheet across the table towards Emma once again. "You got all of them right. I simply do not understand your worry."

"I haven't studied or anything." Emma's eyes were wide with disbelief. "Lucky guesses."

"Now, why don't you try to answer the multiple-choice questions? It'll give you more of a challenge, but you should know that one of the answers is correct. Eliminate ones that would not make sense towards the question itself and choose from there."

"That's what every teacher says." Emma tapped the butt of her pencil on the paper, eyes reading the first question over. And over. "You may say it's so simple, but it's far more difficult than you think."

"I know it is, Emma. I know that sometimes you just don't know the answer. I was a teenager once, too." Ms. Mills quirked a brow, an amused smile captivating her lips. "Or had you forgotten that every adult was once young?"

"No, I haven't," Emma whispered quietly. She looked down at the paper again, squinting at it before circling an answer.

Either it was the new boost of confidence or the way Ms. Mills' company had eased her, but Emma finished in no time with a proud smile. She slid the paper across the diner's table to her teacher.

"On what level of confidence do you feel with your work?" The brunette's deep voice asked, her brows raised over the thick-rimmed glasses.

"I'm feeling… pretty confident."

"Then let's see where this new-found confidence has led you." Ms. Mills smiled softly, then proceeded to look over the circled answers on Emma's paper. And, _oh gods_ , the way her lips pursed told the blonde that she probably failed.

"I totally bombed it, didn't I?" The teen groaned, slumping helplessly in her seat.

"You only missed two, Emma. And that, out of ten, is not too bad." The brunette teacher propped her glasses back onto her nose and handed Emma back her paper.

"Well, having guessed on most of it, that's good. Right?"

"Emma," Ms. Mills clucked. "You shouldn't have to _guess_. You should _know._ "

"I can't _know_ anything when I haven't _learned_ it. I don't want to sound harsh or anything, and I know that's he's your colleague and all, but Mr. Glass kinda sucks at teaching."

"You think I don't know that?" And as fast as those words were out of the brunette's mouth, her jaw snapped shut.

Emma leaned forward in the diner's chair, her elbows pressing against the tabletop. "What do you mean?"

Ms. Mills looked as if she had deeply regretted ever opening her mouth and Emma was about to let it go, until the brunette looked around them before leaning forward, her voice a soft whisper.

"I am about to divulge information that no one, and I repeat _no one_ , must know of. Do you promise to not tell anyone?" There was a serious sharpness in her eyes that told the blonde that she wasn't playing around.

"Y-yes. Of course, Ms. Mills. You can trust me. I won't tell _anyone_." Emma promised, her ponytail bobbing as she nodded her head. "It's just between the two of us."

"Good." She reached across the table, her darker-toned hand contrasted against Emma's paler complexion as she gently took the other's hand in her own. Soon, the other followed, both grasping onto Emma's as chocolate met with emerald.

"Sydney- Mr. Glass, we went to college together and we had a few classes together. Remember when I had said that I wanted to become a writer? Although, my… mother insisted my major be in teaching since I refused to become a lawyer and that was my second option." The teacher was slightly hesitant with her next words. "We met in class and he had developed this infatuation. He became obsessed and would do _anything_ for me. And, after realizing that I would be going into teaching, he decided to change direction and take classes evolving around such. I wasn't sure _which_ type of teacher he had planned on becoming, but… well, soon enough, we graduated and I had been on my way to Storybrooke. And he followed."

"And then became the government teacher?" Emma stared incredulously at her teacher.

"Yes." Ms. Mills nodded, sighing shortly after before leaning back once again, her hand withdrawing from Emma's. "I really, probably, shouldn't have told you that, Emma. But I do trust that you will keep this information to yourself?"

"Of course," the blonde quickly obliged.

The brunette teacher gave Emma a grateful smile, the corners of her mouth tilting slightly upwards for only a few seconds before letting her facial expression drop. Emma saw the woman's eyes darken, a deep and slightly confused emotion eclipsed her brown orbs. The blonde furrowed her brows, unable to determine why there was such a sudden change within the teacher.

"Are you okay, Ms. Mills?" Emma inquired, her head tilting to the side. "Do you want me to go?"

"No, dear, you're fine. I mean, unless you want to leave." And just as fast as it had come, the emotion and darkness dissipated from Ms. Mills' eyes, leaving her brown orbs to shine like melted chocolate.

"Yeah. I wanna stay for a bit. If you don't mind, I might grab something to eat."

"You haven't eaten, yet?"

"No. But I'm sure Ruby would be kind enough to get me something." The blonde teenager smirked and twisted her body to call out to her friend. The waitress, leaning against the counter, soon rushed over to the blonde with a wide smile on her face.

"Hey, girl, what's up?"

"You owe me food," she stated blatantly.

Ruby sneered at the look on the blonde's face, which spoke the words left unsaid. "Fine. One grilled cheese coming right up."

"Thank you." Emma managed her sweetest voice before turning around to play with her mug.

"And lasagna, Regina? With pepper flakes?"

"Just how I like it, dear." The teacher offered Ruby a polite smile before the waitress sauntered off to fulfill their orders. Emma, on the other hand, was seething.

How dare Ruby do that? And right in front of the blonde, too. She really must be jonesing to get a dose of Emma's fist. Unless she was doing it on purpose to spite her friend, and that made Emma even more angry.

"Are you alright, Emma?" The sweet and familiar voice that fell from those lips had immediately sated Emma's anger.

She looked up with large, doe-eyes, her head bobbing in reply to the question. She couldn't let her anger show, not to that sweet woman in front of her. Ms. Mills would be the very last person that could ever be a hair up her ass. That concerned and ever so caring face contradicted any horrendous thoughts about Ruby's joke and replaced them with little unicorns and rainbows instead.

"Rainbows."

 _What._

 _Did she just say that?_

"Pardon?" The teacher's eyes widened.

Emma always feared something like that would happen. That's why she absolutely _hated_ thinking when she should be talking as well, because something like _this_ was bound to happen.

"S-sorry. I was just… thinking about rainbows for some odd reason." Emma mentally kicked herself. She was thinking about rainbows alright, but for far more inappropriate reasons. But Ms. Mills didn't need to know that.

"I see…" The older woman looked skeptical.

Emma couldn't help the blush that crept up her neck and flooded her cheeks with pink. She hated her body, sometimes, and the way it reacted to certain things. Especially if one of those _things_ was Regina Mills.

The two had ended up sitting in an awkward silence, neither one knowing what to say to the other. It wasn't until Ruby had interrupted them, did they finally relax, no doubt relieved for the intrusion.

"Thank you, Miss Lucas." Ms. Mills flashed the waitress a grin when the lanky brunette set the plate in front of her. Emma's own meal soon followed, as well as a few words from her friend.

"It's on me, Em." Ruby whispered before trotting off.

Emma smiled to herself. Okay. Maybe Ruby was off her shit list for now. She didn't even have to argue with her friend about getting the meal for free. After all, it was her friends' fault for her skipping dinner.

She glanced up to catch sight of Ms. Mills already chewing a bite of her meal. The blonde tried so hard to keep the grin from flashing across her face, but it failed, which had caused the brunette to quirk a brow.

"Ruby's Granny makes the best lasagna," Emma found herself saying. She didn't know why the hell she just said that. It was sure to be random to the teacher. But the other woman merely smiled.

"Indeed, she does. I must say, it's better than mine. I can never get mine to quite taste like hers." Ms. Mills responded, setting her fork down so she could take the napkin from her lap and dab delicately at the corners of her mouth.

"Why do you like pepper flakes in them?"

The brunette subconsciously licked her lips. "It gives it a little _kick_."

"I bet." Emma giggled, then proceeded to explain how she didn't necessarily enjoy lasagna, even though, yeah, Granny made the best. Ms. Mills was a bit shocked, if not offended (or at least Emma thought so), and said she was missing out on quite a lovely meal. Emma only laughed and shrugged, saying that she really wasn't and, anyways, spaghetti was quite similar to the dish.

The rest of the night consisted of idle conversation and the often subtle, sheepish looks that Emma had donned upon realizing what she was doing. The two were practically on a date, but Emma tried to push that annoying little voice aside and listen to the moral one telling her that it was just a nice, platonic dinner with her teacher because the other woman had been kind enough to invite her to sit with her tonight. Whatever the brunette had been thinking at the time was probably a far cry from where Emma's thoughts veered. That point aside, the blonde must admit this was one of the best dinners she had had in a while, of course, excluding all the lovely meals at home.

By the end of the night, Emma felt that she had an even deeper connection with her teacher, mentally if not emotionally. It had gotten easier to talk to her as the hours passed and the diner emptied. She learned simple and basic things about Ms. Mills, and even though they weren't much, it was still a turning point for them since the older woman had opened about herself.

Like how she was an only child and she used to absolutely _love_ horseback riding in her younger years before college. And, somehow, her mother knew the principle. A strange thing, that. Ms. Mills had slightly questioned that as she talked about it, but decided to pass it off. She didn't want to discuss her mother. The most information that the blonde had gotten about her was the woman's name and that was Cora. Everything else was left unsaid, but the look in her teacher's eye told her there was so much more to tell.

When the two had parted ways, Ruby finally kicking them out and a worried text from Mary Margaret, they said their goodbyes with large, toothy grins. It was a nice night for the two. Of course, morally, it was wrong for a teacher and a student to have dinner together like this. That had worried Ms. Mills upon realizing that, but Emma assured her no one would know nor should they really suspect a thing. It wasn't like they had a secret relationship or anything, but Emma didn't say that. The words died on her tongue before they were thrown from her mouth.

Being reassured, the English teacher nodded and said her goodnight before heading down the street towards a black Mercedes. Emma watched her get into the vehicle and drive off before guiding her feet down the sidewalk towards the apartment, backpack slung on her shoulder and soiled hoodie underneath her arm as she wore the stupidest smile she could muster. This really was a good night and nothing could ruin it. Not even if Mary Margaret or David would reprimand her for staying out so late without saying a word about it.


	7. I Will Beat You With Your Selfie Stick

Emma stirred underneath the covers, the light streaming from her window hit her square in the face and woke the blonde. _Prematurely_ , she thought with a yawn; her alarm hadn't gone off yet.

Groaning, she tossed onto her other side and patted around her mattress groggily in search of her phone. She might as well see how much more time she had left to sleep. With her luck, she'd only have five or less minutes. Hand meeting the mobile device, she quickly woke it up and stared at the screen through tired eyes.

Then she shot bolt upright with the comforters flying off to the side of her. What the hell happened to her alarm? Her phone had indicated that it was a mere fifteen minutes before school started. _Fifteen minutes_ to get ready _and_ walk to the school. _In this weather_.

It was the beginning of November and the week was half over, although Emma just wished that it would be over already. The only reason why she seemed to look forward to each day was for the lunch period that she spent with Ms. Mills. Everyone else and every other class could go suck one for all she cared. At least, that was her thoughts this morning. It wasn't going to be a good day, and Emma could tell already. Who the hell knows what else they're supposed to be doing in her classes. Probably nothing fun and everything boring.

Although, that would have been the least of Emma's worries in the next few minutes as she scrambled to get her clothes on for the school day. She wondered why the hell Mary Margaret hadn't woken her up, yet. Surely the schoolteacher would make sure her daughter was up for the day before she left? Unless she figured that Emma decided to sleep in this morning.

But the blonde hadn't planned that. Her phone was just an asshole and decided not to inform her to wake up this morning. Sometimes technology failed to please her.

She probably forgot to set the alarm last night. After all, she _had_ stayed up quite late trying to finish up her writing assignment. Procrastination was never a good thing for Emma. When she pushed things aside, they were pushed aside and forgotten until someone, or herself, reminded her that it was needed to be done by the next day. And, boy, had she not pushed this paper aside, she wouldn't have gone to bed past… Gods, when _did_ she go to bed? It was well past two in the morning, she knew for sure. Then she had major difficulties falling asleep, as well.

With sleep-crusted eyes, she trudged down the stairs of the loft and headed for the front door. She didn't see Mary Margaret on her way out. She must have left early again. Damn. Emma wished the brunette wouldn't have or else the blonde would be at school by now.

Which didn't sound too appealing, Emma thought as she walked down the street towards the school. She could sure as hell use the time away from all the students buzzing around in her way. Gods, did she hate that. They _never_ moved when she wanted them to and they walked so agonizingly _slow_ through the halls. Just like the herd of students in front of her now. Sometimes she wished she were a sheepdog and they the sheep, it would certainly make things a lot easier.

 _What_?

Where the hell are her thoughts right now? With a groan, she headed down the English hallway and straight into Mr. Booth's room. Killian was there in his spot, his blue eyes watching her as she took the spot next to him.

"You look like the dead." He quirked a brow, addressing the blonde who, apparently, looked like the dead. She wouldn't doubt it. She could feel that her bags had bags, and from seeing the dark circles under her eyes this morning, it was true. Her hair was slightly mussed and haphazardly thrown into a messy ponytail.

"I feel like the dead." And, yeah, she did. She felt like she was walking on a cloud most of the time. Her head felt as if it were elsewhere from her exhaustion.

"I take it you woke up late?"

"Yup."

"P.E.'s gonna be fun for you."

"Don't remind me."

"We have to _run_."

"I'll probably fall and die on the floor."

 _Yawn_. Dammit.

"Don't worry, I'll bring my phone to video you if you do."

"Don't."

"I can see it now."

"Shut up."

"And I shall be your knight in shining armor as I come to your rescue."

 _Oh god, he better be joking_.

"No."

"And everyone will _swoon_."

"Shut up, Killian." Emma groaned. She really wasn't in the mood for this.

The bell rang and Emma nearly had a heart attack. She bolted up in her seat, green eyes wide and body tense. She nearly fell out of her chair. Hopefully no one was paying too much attention.

Killian was having the time of his life, laughing at her reaction as if his life had depended upon it.

 _Him_.

"Don't. Say. A. Word." She gritted, burying her head into her arms. Now she was blushing furiously.

"Oh...! Oh, my God, Emma…" He was doubling slightly over in his desk. Mr. Booth was glaring at them for the disturbance. "That was _so_ much better… I wish I could have got _that_ on video."

"Shut. Up."

"Now you _have_ to fall down in gym."

"For fuck's sake! I am _not_ in the mood for this."

"Emma!"

"Sorry, Mr. Booth." Emma glared at Killian who grinned smugly next to her.

"Do I have to separate you two?" He asked, moving towards them. The entire class was now looking at the two. _Fantastic_.

"Please. Do." Emma mumbled.

"Fine. Go take the spot next to Ava."

Emma obliged and got up from her seat, stumbling slightly over her own feet as she made her way next to her classmate. Well, at least she wouldn't have to sit through _that_ all period.

By the end of third period, Emma had woken up for the most part, although most of her body felt groggy as hell. Her brain was fuzzy, yet she felt slightly alert. It was an odd feeling and the blonde didn't like it.

After what had seemed like an eternity, the blonde had finally made it to her fourth period classroom and slumped into her desk at the back. Her brain was now on autopilot. It felt like she had no control anymore. From her head to her toes, she felt numb.

Her eyes wandered around the quiet room. Most of it was full, but since Ms. Mills was in the room, they remained quiet. How strange they acted around the brunette teacher, Emma thought. They seemed afraid of her. Sure, she sometimes threatened to send them to the office or give them a detention slip if they talked during the wrong time, but come on, the woman was harmless.

She was like a fluffy kitten.

 _Yeah, fluffy kitten._

Then her eyes found the raven-haired beauty standing at her podium, patiently waiting for the bell to ring.

 _Not a fluffy kitten._

She was a freaking panther.

Her eyes ate up the classroom as if the students were her prey.

And that sleek, dark hair of hers.

Which looked fluffy today.

Ms. Mills was a fluffy panther kitten, Emma concluded with a nod to herself.

 _Fluffy panther kitten?_

She really _was_ out of it today.

 _Keep your mouth shut, Swan, before you call your very sexy teacher a fluffy panther kitten._

Because Emma was certain that's exactly what she would do if she were to open her mouth at the moment. Or any moment, because now that damned term wouldn't leave her mind. Oh, great. Just do _not_ speak, she kept telling herself.

The bell rang soon enough and Ms. Mills began with: "Please pass your papers forward from yesterday."

 _Duck a fuck_.

Did she remember to bring that?

Emma quickly rummaged through her backpack and pulled out her notebook. Relief flooded over her as she found the neatly typed story in one of the pockets. She was smart enough to remember to put that thing in her notebook. Good thing, because she was sure she would have left her head at home if it weren't attached.

Passing that forward, she let her body remain at ease. Today wasn't too bad of a day, despite the fluffy panther kitten thoughts. They were going good. And that black dress that barely reached Ms. Mills' knees made it all the better.

After the teacher had collected all of the papers, she set them aside and grabbed a fresh stack of papers, and the class nearly let out a collective groan, or so Emma imagined in her mind. They hated doing in-class work. Well, at least Emma did. But, hey, it was better than nearly falling asleep while watching words fade in and out on the smartboard.

"I have a study guide for you to fill out from this chapter's notes. The test will be on Friday. Tomorrow we will go over the study guide as a class. That does not mean that you do not have to do the work because I _will_ be checking them before we continue. If you feel so inclined as to not do it, I will not hesitate to keep you after school for detention." And so, she started to pass the papers out to each row. After she had finished, she headed towards her desk.

Emma collected her paper and stared at the questions. There just seemed to be so many. She loved Ms. Mills as a teacher dearly, but she could just be a bit of a pain when it came to homework.

Abiding like a good student, Emma began answering the questions with ease, trying her best to ignore the talking boys next to her. They were "whispering", if you could call barely hushed voices whispering. She didn't care about that; it was disinteresting anyhow.

And then, from the corner of her eye, she saw Ms. Mills look up at the talking students and clear her throat as a warning. They hushed immediately. Content, the teacher went back to reading the first story on the stack.

Then they began to talk again not five minutes later. Emma rolled her eyes, completely used to not being able to work in silence. There was always at least _some_ group that talked during work time in every class. But in this one, it was quite rare since Ms. Mills had made it clear that she didn't like the disturbance. She wanted everyone to get their work done.

And thus, she stood. Emma parted her gaze from the paper and watched as the brunette made her way over to the two students, an eyebrow quirked and hands planted firmly on one of the desks. This immediately caught the boys' attention and they looked up just as the teacher spoke in one of her most threatening (and might Emma add her sexiest) tone.

"If I need to remind you to stay quiet during work time one more time, I will write the both of you up an office referral. I recommend that you remain quiet and get to work. I know that you cannot afford another zero."

"We will," one of the boys said.

"Thank you." She narrowed her eyes at the two of them before heading back over to her desk, leaving a trail of her spicy perfume in her wake. _And oh, did she smell good,_ Emma thought.

As soon as Ms. Mills was out of what they thought was earshot, the second boy mumbled to his friend, "she's such a fucking cunt. No wonder why no one likes her."

It took Emma a moment to register what he had said, but as soon as she knew figured out just what he was saying, she was about to go into full-on beat down mode and bring out a can of whoop ass on them.

 _But_ , she had to remain still. She couldn't come to Ms. Mills' defenses without question. It wasn't in her place to do such a thing, but what he said just made her blood boil.

"I know," the other readily agreed and Emma kept her ears open.

And the boy continued, "I don't understand why they had to move us to _her_ class. They don't call her the Evil Queen for nothin'. She'll find any excuse to give anyone she doesn't like a zero."

"She shouldn't even be a teacher. I don't get how they let her get away with this shit. It's ridiculous. Only the teacher pets get good grades."

"I know _at least_ five people that complained to Mr. Gold about her. And all of those that went to Mr. Hopper to change out of her class. That's why I couldn't get the fuck out." He scoffed. "They should have fired her worthless ass by now."

Emma grit her teeth, seething with anger now. Oh, gods, they were about to unleash the _Motherfucking Swan Beast_.

"Like I said. She's just a fucking power-hungry cunt and she doesn't deserve this job. Bitch needs to get laid or something. Maybe that'll get her to lay off."

The blond jerk smirked with a nod, chuckling slightly to his buddy as he elbowed him playfully. "Maybe we should plow her. I bet she's had two guys at once."

"Yeah, right. She's a fuckin' prude."

"She'll change her mind after she's had us." The brunet boy smirked at his friend's comment. "Maybe we'll show her what it's like to fuck real men, later, huh?"

That was it. That was the last straw. Emma just couldn't take it anymore. Normally she wouldn't get involved in other people's conversations, but slandering and making sexual remarks about a dedicated teacher was going too far.

That's where Emma drew the line, crossed it, and then snorted it for the extra adrenaline to hand them their asses.

"That's it!" Emma nearly screamed, her fist meeting the desk. "Would you just stop? Shut the _fuck_ up about her! She's the best goddamn teacher in this _fucking_ school. It's not my _fucking_ fault that you're just so goddamn _stupid!_ Maybe the problem isn't _her_ , but _you_!" She was standing now, her face inches from the blond boy's that had been closest to her. "You can just crawl back under that _fucking_ rock that you live under with your pathetic _asswipe_ of a friend and stop insulting somebody that is _clearly_ better than you. Both of you can go _fuck_ yourselves, because with a mouth like that, I highly doubt that _you'd_ get anything else better than your own hand, you _fucking twats_!"

" _Emma Nolan_!" The blonde winced at the husky, but firm, voice behind her. Ms. Mills had now stood from her desk, chestnut brown eyes staring sharply at her student. The shell-shocked boys now started to snicker quietly at the chastisement.

"I thought you were better than to pick a fight during class. I would like to see you after the period ends." Then she moved to stand in front of the two boys once again, a pad of paper in her hand. "And you two should start getting packed up. You're heading to the office."

"That's not fair!" One of them whined, pointing a finger to Emma. "How come she doesn't get sent down there, too? She verbally abused us for no reason!"

Emma scoffed at him and scowled. "Because _I'm_ not threatening to _rape_ her, jerkoff."

"No arguments or I will see to it that you get detention as well." Ms. Mills ripped the papers from their pad and handed them to the boys. "Now, get going."

"You really _are_ a fucking cunt." The second spat, ripping the paper from his teacher's grasp.

And something inside Emma just _broke._

"You _fucking_ know what, you rude _prick_?" The next thing she knew, she was throwing her fist in the air, knocking it against the teenage boy's jaw with a loud _crack!_

Ms. Mills now had a grip around Emma, her arms encircling the blonde, trapping her arms.

" _Emma!_ "

"You fucking psycho bitch! Both of you need to get _fucked_!" The boy cried, holding his jaw as his friend grabbed their things.

"Go to the office. _Now!_ I am notifying Principal Gold so he can take care of your insubordination." The teacher demanded, shooting them daggers as she struggled to hold the squirming Emma.

Despite being in Ms. Mills' arms, Emma continued to struggle. She really wanted to just _strangle_ that asshole for saying that about their teacher. All sense about _everything_ just left. She didn't think after that. She just _couldn't_. The woman was insecure enough about what other's thought of her, and when they so directly had to state those _things_ , she just could _not_.

After the two boys left, did Ms. Mills finally release Emma from her grip. All things moral came flooding back into Emma's adrenaline-filled brain. She wanted to cry. Perhaps not literally, but she felt the need. She broke. She let it show how much she really did care about Ms. Mills.

Hopefully the teacher wouldn't say anything about that. Maybe she would take if from their sort of bond that they had formed during their lunches. Hopefully she would still _want_ to have lunch with Emma after that little scene.

"Meet me in the hall, please." She said quietly to Emma before smoothing out her dress, heading towards the front of the room.

Emma obliged and headed to the hall as Ms. Mills had told the class to continue working and that they would have time tomorrow to work on the study guide since the disturbance had left most of the class watching the scene.

The blonde leaned against one of the lockers next to the classroom, her head pounding and her hand throbbing. She probably needed ice on that. She'd probably be heading to the office anyways, so it didn't matter.

The sound of the door opening told Emma that Ms. Mills had joined her. The blonde pushed herself away from the lockers and readied herself.

"I don't want to send you to the office, Emma, you know that. But I have to." She looked at the blonde, her eyes were slightly shimmering and Emma swore she saw something familiar in there.

"I know. I understand. It's my fault, anyways." Emma shrugged, wincing slightly as she held onto her bruised hand. That had caused the brunette to look down and frown.

"You should get ice for that."

"Yeah."

"Go to the office, okay?" Her voice was soft.

"Yeah, I will. Do I need to grab my stuff?"

"You'll be in there for the rest of the period, I'm sure. There isn't much time left." Ms. Mills slightly tilted her head. "You can leave your items in the room. I'll see you for lunch."

Emma nodded, trying to hide the smile that threatened to appear on her lips. "Alright."

Then she headed down the hall towards the office. She could feel those whisky eyes on her, as if they were boring through her skin. It gave her goosebumps.

She was able to leave the office after the bell rang for lunch. Emma had received detention after school for the rest of the week and then some. But it was totally worth it, she thought. She was able to defend Ms. Mills' dignity when she knew other people wouldn't. She was rather proud of herself and she talked her way out of suspension.

Despite Mr. Gold's affinity to be _creepy as fuck_ , he seemed to have a soft spot for Ms. Mills, and upon realizing why Emma had exactly punched that boy and screamed several profanities, she had him wrapped. It was a good day, she thought, despite having gotten up late and being tired as hell. She felt _pumped._ She felt like she could take down Godzilla.

Soon enough she found herself in Ms. Mills' classroom again. Her bag and papers were still where she had left them. The brunette teacher was typing furiously at her keyboard.

Emma pulled her chair over to Ms. Mills' desk once again. The teacher seemed to have not taken notice, or at least she didn't show it if she had, and continued to type away. Then, as if on cue, she stopped and turned to face Emma. The glasses were now in her hand, which had then been placed on the desk next to a stack of papers.

"Miss Swan," she addressed, her voice firm and Emma nearly wet herself. Maybe she really _did_ screw up after all.

Then, suddenly, a smile broke across the teacher's face. "Thank you."

"Wh-what?" Emma blinked, confused for a moment. She had _not_ been expecting that. But, then again, she had always expected the worst outcome for each situation.

"Thank you. I heard what… they said." Now she began to nibble on her lower lip, eating away the lipstick there. "And… thank you for standing up for me. Really, Emma, I am forever grateful. I… I can try to talk with Mr. Gold about alleviating some of your punishment."

"No, it's fine. I got what I deserved. Anyways, it's not as bad as you think." Emma shrugged, a grin of her own had found its way upon her pale lips. "But thank you for trying."

Ms. Mills stared at her for a moment, and Emma swore she was going to cry, but she didn't. She straightened herself, a watery smile on her full lips. "I've heard these students throw insults at me, both directly and indirectly, and no one ever stood up for me. I can't do it myself because they're students. _My_ students and I have to act professionally. But the way you stood up for me today. It really…" she trailed off and Emma didn't need for her to continue. What she said was enough to make Emma's entire school year. Her heart just expanded in her chest as pride ripped through her.

"Of course, Ms. Mills… I mean, those students are assholes. They don't know spit. Half the time they don't think about what they say and how it could affect someone." Emma said quietly. "And since you can't retaliate, they just think that you don't care, so they can get away with it. I know I probably shouldn't have gone as far as I did, I must admit, but, hey… I'd probably do it again in a heartbeat. Someone needed to speak on your behalf and stand up to those bullies."

And then she's almost choking on the spicy scent of Ms. Mills' perfume as she was engulfed in her arms. It took Emma a moment to register what was happening, and even longer to respond. Soon enough, her own arms wrapped around the brunette.

She was soft, and warm, and her hair smelled like apples.

Emma marveled in the hug, hoping that it wouldn't end any time soon. It was so very nice and so much better than the restrain embrace from earlier. And it was so funny how Emma felt when being in her arms. She felt all warm and fuzzy, like she was sitting in front of the fireplace during winter with a fluffy blanket and a cup of cinnamon cocoa. It was her version of _home_. And that was slightly terrifying. Or really terrifying. The blonde couldn't decide and right now, she didn't care.

But the embrace had to end. Ms. Mills pulled away to be met with a stupid, beaming grin from Emma. She was quite sure she looked like an idiot, but that was fine. She didn't care. She just got hugged by Regina Mills. And it was nice. It smelled like apple pie. And she was _the_ fluffy panther kitten.

"How about lunch?" Ms. Mills murmured, eyeing Emma's bag.

"Oh, right! Lunch. I'm hungry. You must be hungry." The blonde flustered slightly and reached down to open her bag once again.

But she was met with nothing but her calculator and a small reading book.

Where was lunch?

"Lunch?" she whined, pointing to her bag helplessly. "I got up late and totally forgot to pick up lunch! I'm stupid."

"Hey, Emma." Ms. Mills frowned. "No, you aren't. You're not stupid, dear. Everyone makes mistakes."

"But now we're both out a lunch."

"We don't have to be." The teacher rolled her chair back and leaned forward to grab her purse from underneath the desk. After a minute of rummaging through it, she pulled out her wallet. "Lunch can be on me. After all, you're something like my White Knight." She offered Emma a smile before standing. "I can head to the school store and pick us up something there. What would you like?"

"Can't I just come with you?" Emma murmured, standing as well. She felt her stomach grumble, which had ultimately caused her to blush.

"If you feel so inclined to. But, do just give me the items after picking them out." She gestured towards the door before heading across the class, Emma trailing behind her.

"Want me to, like, point at things? I don't know if it's appropriate for teachers to buy their students a lunch." She said, trying to keep up with Ms. Mills' long strides.

"I do not mind what they think. You did something for me today, and it's something that I am forever grateful for." She tried to find the right words, and Emma had a flutter of hope in her stomach that maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with more than just gratitude.

"Okay." Emma nodded and smiled softly, following Ms. Mills into the school store.

She looked around the small room, her green eyes eating up the different food products on the makeshift shelves and aisles, and everything looked good. She didn't know what to get, but she also didn't want to get too much or something too expensive. The blonde would feel too selfish for that since her brunette teacher was willing to buy her the meal.

"Anything look good to you?" A voice sounded beside her.

"Everything," she replied, looking up into brown eyes. "But I don't want to spend a lot of your money… so, like… string cheese would be enough. They're, like, fifty cents."

"Emma," she heard the woman sigh softly and shake her head. "You need to pick something more than that or I will get you a five dollar Lunchable." She pointed to one of the refrigerators.

"No, thanks… Uh." The blonde bit her lip and chose a bag of potato chips. "Done."

"Is that all?" Ms. Mills quirked an eyebrow at the item in her hand. "That's hardly a healthy meal, Emma. Why not get an apple? There are sandwiches, as well." And to emphasize her point, she grabbed a small sub sandwich from the refrigerator as well as an apple from the basket by the checkout counter. Then, suddenly, she grabbed another sandwich and another apple before pointing to a bag of baked chips. "Mind grabbing that for me?"

"Um…" Emma nodded and grabbed the desired bag, watching as the teacher sauntered over to the drinks.

"Would you like something from here?" Emma was about to shake her head, but the teacher gave her a wry look. "Grab two waters and bring them to the counter."

Then she left Emma to her own device, grabbing the bottles before following behind Ms. Mills again. She dropped the items onto the counter and blinked.

"Are you sure we've got enough time to eat all of this?" She asked, pointing to the now-bagged items that the volunteer cashier handed to the brunette.

But the woman didn't say anything as she merely walked out of the store, leaving Emma to follow her once more.

It wasn't until they had arrived back into the classroom and unpacked their lunches did Ms. Mills finally speak. "Depends on how fast you eat."

And the words just seemed so random to Emma because she forgot the question that she had asked not five minutes prior. "Excuse me?"

"You asked if we had enough time to eat all of this. It depends on how fast you eat, or what you _do_ eat." She eyed Emma's meal skeptically, her eyes focused on the fruit.

"Are you worried that I won't eat the apple?" Emma giggled softly and picked up the Honeycrisp apple, then polished it on her shirt before taking a large bite out of it. "Mmm, is good," she spoke through the mouthful of food.

Ms. Mills gave her a disapproving look before cleaning her own apple to eat. "They usually are, dear."

"Do you like apples? I mean, _really_ like them?" Emma tilted her head. Belle had said something about the teacher always having an apple on her desk. Typical cliché.

"More than you know." The brunette grinned, taking another bite out of her apple. The twinkle in her eyes told Emma that she was talking about more than just apples. But… what the hell type of innuendo would that be? And would Ms. Mills _intentionally_ say something like that? Or offer that look in her eyes? Maybe Emma had just been seeing things. Perhaps she was a little _too_ hopeful.

"I enjoy all different types. I enjoy the Red Delicious ones the most. They're sweet." Ms. Mills grinned innocently enough, but that little pink tongue of hers darted out to lick the apple's juices from her lips.

Emma watched her every movement, a blush crawling its way onto her cheeks. "Y-yeah. I like them, too."

The brunette teacher looked over to Emma and smiled widely. "Good. I have a tree of them in my backyard. I could bring some for you, if you wish. There are so many, I hardly know what to do with them all. I try to make as many pies, tarts, turnovers, or try to incorporate them into every meal as I can, but it gets tiring after a while."

It took Emma a moment before her brain had processed what the teacher was telling her. She was more tired than she thought, and the distraction of Ms. Mills' lips didn't help any towards her concentration.

"Emma?" Ms. Mills looked at her with a frown, concern creasing the barely visible lines in her face.

"Oh, yeah, pie sounds good," she mumbled, looking to the hand that had found its way onto her knee.

"Are you sure you are alright, dear? You seem… out of it."

"Yeah. I mean, I didn't get much sleep. I'm just tired, is all." Emma shrugged as if it were nothing. Her forest green gaze slid up to meet her teacher's. "What were you saying before about pie?"

"Apples, dear. I was speaking about apples. I wanted to know if you were interested in my bringing some for you, since I have so many." She laughed for a moment before taking a bite of her sandwich which she had unwrapped some time during Emma's little adventure into outer space.

The blonde watched her once again. She took such dainty and delicate bites from the sub like she feared it would attack her if she were to dare take a larger nibble. Her jaw worked as regally, although she made it look so goddamn rich with her lips pressing together as she chewed. That woman was all kinds of perfect and she was beautiful, even as she ate the meat-filled sandwich.

"Oh. Yeah. I mean, that would be nice." Emma grinned, shaking her head slightly to clear her mind. Really, she needed to stop staring at the teacher. She was quite sure Ms. Mills could feel her just… staring. It was probably uncomfortable. "I like apples and my parents like 'em, too."

"Then I shall bring some for you tomorrow. I have _bowls_ just lying around the house." She shook her head and took another bite.

Then Emma felt her stomach growl, demanding it be fed. She nearly forgot about eating for a moment there. She really _was_ out of it. Holy hell. Quickly, she opened her bag of potato chips and popped one into her mouth.

"How is your hand, dear?" Ms. Mills' eyes lowered to the blonde's hand, which was now wrapped up. She had ice on it for about five minutes before growing tired of holding the damn pack to her hand. She was already out one hand; she didn't need to lose the other for the rest of the day.

"It still hurts, but I'll live." She shrugged. "I've had it happen before."

"You have?" There was a frown on that pretty face of hers and it made Emma's heart sink, causing her to frown in return.

"Yeah. It can be a fight for survival sometimes in those homes." Emma avoided her teacher's stare and, instead, took interest in the wrap around her knuckles. She was clamming up again and she knew it. It was hard sometimes to just spill out things from her past. The first time was hell enough. She wanted to avoid revisiting those memories at all cost.

"Oh, Emma," she heard the brunette's voice speak, which had been nothing but a mere whisper.

"Don't feel sorry for me or anything. It's in the past and I'd really rather not talk about it."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insinuate anything."

"It's okay." Emma shrugged, her eyes glancing at the clock. Five minutes. She started to pack up her uneaten food. She knew she should have eaten something, but her mind was elsewhere, and right now, she didn't feel so hungry anymore.

Ms. Mills watched her with a curious gaze, her eyes sparkling with a hint of sorrow. "I suppose this is until tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Emma gave her one of her best smiles, making it wide and beaming. "Thank you for the lunch. I really appreciate it."

"It's no problem at all, especially after what you had done for me." She shot Emma a grin before pausing and bending down to reach underneath her desk. "I really shouldn't give you these, but…" She placed two, small white tablets into the palm of Emma's hand. "These are for your hand. It's the least that I can do, dear."

"Thanks." The blonde popped the pills into her mouth, swallowing them dry.

Emma stood up now, but remained with her gaze locked on Ms. Mills'. She debated whether to take that step forward and give her an appreciative hug. The blonde wasn't quite sure how she would react, and it was quite risky, and not to mention, weird, even though they had embraced earlier. It felt different, and honestly, Emma wasn't used to showing such affection. So, she took a step back and bowed her head.

"Thank you, once again, for lunch. Uh..." She gestured her head towards the door as the bell finally tolled. "I appreciate everything."

"Of course, Emma." She watched the blonde cross the room. "Are you sure you're going to be okay, though?"

"Yeah, these pills should help."

"Alright, if you're sure. I wish you a good day, dear."

"Thanks." Emma grinned shyly and pushed the door open. " _You_ have a good day too, and don't let anyone get you down. No matter what they say, you _are_ an incredible woman. And call me in if they start talking smack about you because I still have another can of whoop-ass ready."

"Emma…" Ms. Mills' complexion had completely softened now.

"I-I have to go." And so, Emma did, quickly rushing out of the room.

Whatever that look was just scared the teenager and she didn't know if she could handle what would have come of it if she had stayed. Maybe it would have been nothing. Maybe something. She didn't know and she wouldn't soon find out. She did what she did best and fled.


	8. The Hole Deepens

"Are you sure that you're alright, Emma?" Belle asked the blonde quietly.

Emma looked up from her current project in the art room. She hadn't said much to her friend last period, and for most of this one, since the class was nearing its end.

"Yeah," she finally answered. "I'm just thinking, I guess. I have a lot on my mind."

"It seems like it." Belle didn't pry. Instead, she gestured toward Emma's wrapped knuckles. "I've been wondering about that, but every time I asked you, you just grunted at me."

"Oh. Sorry." Emma self-consciously hid her hand.

"What happened?"

"Got into a fight," she murmured vaguely. She wasn't about to tell Belle the reason _why_ and the other teenager seemed to have known that, because she only nodded.

"Did you win?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"You guess?"

"Well, since they ran out after I punched 'em." Emma only shrugged, playing with a strand of her hair. "I'm a badass, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. You're tough, Emma." Belle gave her a friendly smile and lightly nudged the blonde with her shoulder. "I'm proud of you."

"You don't even know why I did it."

"Yeah, but you won. That's something to be proud of." The brunette shrugged. "And even if you didn't, I'd still be proud of you because you were brave enough to fight whoever that was. They must have done _something_ to piss you off. You wouldn't risk anything for no good reason. You stood up for something that you believe in. I'm proud of that."

Emma gave Belle a watery smile. Boy, was she glad that she could handle her emotions well, because if not, she'd be leaking water works all over the place by now.

"Thanks, Belle," Emma said quietly. "You really are a great friend. I don't deserve you as one, honestly."

"Oh, don't think that, Em!" Those words had caused a frown to take place on Belle's face. "Now, look, your thoughts are dragging you down again. Why don't you go to the library after school? I know how much reading helps you. You need it."

The blonde tilted her head. She hadn't thought of that. Well, not recently, anyhow. Going to the library sounded like a dream. She loved to go there and forget about reality as she got lost in books. It always seemed to help ease her mind.

"Yeah, I need that. Thanks, Belle. You know just what to say." Emma smiled and hugged the other girl tightly.

"That's what friends are for, Em." She returned the smile and moved away once Emma had released her. "Now, go. I'll clean your things up for you."

"You don't have to do that." Emma frowned, her fingers fumbling with a pencil on the table. "I can stay the extra five minutes."

" _Emma_." Her voice was stern and showed no room for argument. Emma could only oblige because her friend had done so much for her already and she couldn't sit here and argue when she had offered to do something so kind.

"Fine… But I owe you." The blonde popped up from her seat, grabbing her bag as she stood. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay." Belle chuckled softly and nodded.

"Alright…" And then Emma left the room, one foot in front of the other, as fast as she could. Instead of the thoughts that plagued her mind all day, she had been thinking about which book that she should read first. There were so many that she hadn't read yet that sounded quite appealing, but there were also a few favorites that she wanted to reread.

Emma had arrived at the library, which had already started to relax her. The silence was welcoming and, from that, she knew that this was a brilliant idea. It didn't take long for her to select a few books and find an empty table. There weren't many people here, which made Emma frown. That was quite unfortunate. Books were fascinating and they could take you into a whole different world. But, then again, Emma always loved to escape reality while others lived their lives. She didn't mind. Less noise and more books for her to stuff her nose into.

Once Emma's eyes scanned over the first sentence, she was entranced. Time had seemed to fade away as she read page after page. She always did enjoy a good book, and this one was one of her favorites.

Being so enthralled by the book, after reading a great chunk of it, she hadn't noticed the pair of black pumps that soon appeared in front of her table. It wasn't until a husky voice had pulled Emma from her alternate world, did she look up.

"That's one of my favorites."

Wide, green eyes met warm, brown orbs.

"Yeah, it's mine, too. I read it whenever it's in the library."

"You have excellent taste in literature." The other party commented, a soft smile forming on full lips. "Mind if I join you?"

"Uh, sure." Emma shrugged and gestured to the wooden chair across from her. "Take a seat."

"Thank you, dear."

"Of course, Ms. Mills." The blonde offered her a smile in return, anxiously plucking at her sweatshirt as all the troublesome thoughts had started to return. Perhaps she should just leave before she did something stupid. The woman that had been harassing her thoughts all damn day was now here, in Emma's place of escape, not ten feet in front of her.

"Do you come here often?" The brunette politely asked, looking for a conversation no doubt. The brunette had placed a book in front of her, a title that was foreign to Emma upon taking a glance to the title.

"Yeah." She nodded. "It helps me get my mind off things."

"Reading is a marvelous escape, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Emma fumbled with the pages of her book, eyes drifting across the line that she had left off on.

"Oh! I am terribly sorry. This was quite rude of me, intruding on you like this." Ms. Mills had frowned, pulling her book closer. "I should leave you to your reading."

"It's alright. I-I was just leaving," She fibbed, scooting her chair back so she could stand. As she did, she quickly picked her books up.

Emma just couldn't do it. She needed to leave before her mind broke. It was so hard to look at that concerned face and not panic once again. How she was ever going to survive another glance towards the woman without every bad thought coming to mind? It may have seemed rather silly, and sure, Emma wanted to laugh, but she also wanted to just _cry_ at the same time. This feeling might not ever go away.

"I understand, dear." The brunette smiled warmly at the blonde, her head inclined to look at her. But Emma didn't miss the look in her eyes. "I suppose until tomorrow?"

"Yeah." The blonde nodded tightly before quickly turning to leave so she wouldn't have to feel the guilt of rejecting the brunette. She couldn't handle that look.

"Have a good night, Emma." She heard behind her, as well as the movement of the chair against the floor.

Emma squeezed her eyes shut, clutching her collected books against her chest. She couldn't stop seeing _that face_. Not the one from before in the classroom – although that was still fresh in her memory. No. It was the look of _rejection_ that Ms. Mills had tried so hard to hide, but her eyes had shown it all.

 _Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it._

She got halfway toward the door before she spun around to head back. It was only a few strides to the table she had been seated at – and where Ms. Mills was still standing – before she had reached it. The look of surprise on the brunette's face and the smile that soon replaced it caused Emma's heart to flutter.

Then begin to pound as her fears took over her mind once again.

"Are you alright, honey?"

Emma heard the voice break, so familiar and sweet, and so very concerned. She opened her eyes to peer up into brown orbs. Oh, Gods, what was she going to do? Should she just tell the woman about these thoughts? Should she try to resolve them? Could that even be possible?

"Emma?"

"Y-yeah…" Then she shook her head, slumping back down into her chair. "No."

"No?" The brunette frowned, soon slipping into the spot next to Emma. "What's wrong, dear?"

Emma's only response was a soft grunt that she wasn't sure if Ms. Mills had heard. Her mind was elsewhere by now. She was too conflicted upon whether she should tell Ms. Mills. Should she confide her fears into the woman that she had grown so close to over the past few months? How would she even begin?

"You're right. Books are a nice escape," she started, turning her body to face her teacher. "I've never… told this to anyone. I don't really like… reliving things…"

Ms. Mills nodded with furrowed brows. She was listening, and by the sharpness in her eyes, she was carefully analyzing every word that Emma had said. She looked intrigued, and no doubt would archive all of this.

"Uh…" Emma looked to her hands. How should she start? The library, perhaps? Or should she start from the beginning in hopes that Ms. Mills would catch on? But, then again, the teacher didn't know of any thoughts that ran through Emma's head, so that meant that she didn't know how much the blonde had been scared from earlier that day.

"When I was a kid, I discovered a book. It was at one of my foster parents' house. I was old enough to read and really grasp things then. But, uh… Well, I was really bored that day. This family wasn't too bad, but there were a couple other kids living there as well, and let me tell you, they weren't the nicest. They never let me play with them, so one day, I decided to explore the house and I came across this bookshelf. It was dusty and I'm sure it hadn't been used in years.

"But, that's beside the point. There was this book sitting all by itself and that really caught my attention. I grabbed it from the shelf and dusted it off so I could read the title. It was a copy of the one I was reading earlier, actually. So, I went to the room that I shared with one of the family's biological daughters, and hid under my blankets to read this book. I got really interested in it and, for the life of me, could not put that thing down. I never got to finish it, because the daughter told her parents that I stole it from them and then they took it away.

"I knew of a library that was only a few blocks away from the house and went there every day after school for a few hours. I found some pretty good books to read, mind you, they were for younger kids. The librarian eventually helped me pick out ones that were more advanced, and then, did I _really_ enjoy reading. They were more interesting than those…" Emma shook her head and chuckled softly. "Those damn books that inform kids that bears are brown and cats are furry.

"My foster parents got really angry, though, that I went to the library every day. They accused me of lying when I said that I went there and assumed that I had been staying out with some friends or something. But... uh… e-eventually, they had someone come and take me back to the group home. I started to get used to it, though, because I knew they never loved me in the first place. I never understood why they would take a kid in, only to send them back."

The blonde bit her lower lip, avoiding the myriad of emotions flashing across Ms. Mills' visage. She played with the book on her lap for a moment before continuing.

"Ever since then, though, I kept books with me and used them as a means to escape. I usually visited local libraries for hours. Most of the foster parents didn't really care where the hell I was half the time, so I usually stayed until the library closed. I could forget where I was and how chaotic my life was, you know?"

Emma closed her eyes, swallowing thickly.

"The kids always told me that I was unworthy and that I could _never_ be loved, because the proof was in being sent back to that damned place. Eventually, I believed them. No one ever loved me. The only ones that I had _thought_ did… They sent me back. Every time I tried to find hope for myself in searching for _something,_ it only lead to heartache, because I realized that I'm _not_ with them. I am _here_. I'm where I'm not loved." She then paused, backtracked, and corrected herself. "I mean, back then. _Now_ , I have people that… that changed all that.

"It took me a while," Emma whispered anyways. "It took me a while to believe that they genuinely cared and wanted me. I get so… _terrified_. Every time someone shows the least bit of kindness to me, I have to wonder if it's genuine or if they just want something. I carry the name 'Swan' as a reminder to never trust anyone and to doubt their love or kindness."

And there she said it. The words had finally left Emma Swan's mouth. Thinking back, she had never said those very words aloud. She had thought of them many, many times, because she knew of her emotions. But she never admitted them, and now that she had – and to someone else – she felt… lighter. A new weight, though, was holding her down. The reaction from Ms. Mills would be the turning point, she knew for sure.

"Emma, I…" Ms. Mills was at a loss for words. Her lips were left parted as her brain tried to come up with a logical response. "I honestly do not know what to say…"

"Yeah…" Emma felt her shoulders slump, but the added weight to her right one made her blink. Her eyes flicked over to spot Ms. Mills' hand on black. Green soon traveled up her arm toward the face that held conflicting emotions.

"To say I know what you've been through would be ignorant, because I do not. But I do understand, because I had lived a life somewhat similar. A life of solitude and escaped realities in books, that is, without friends nor trust towards others." The older woman's voice held a sort of understanding that allowed Emma's tense muscles to relax.

Her eyes met with brown pools and her heart melted. There was a dark, distant emotion that must have been result of memories in those eyes, but what overcame them was what made Emma's mind whirl back towards the end of lunch, earlier that day. It was _that_ look that had terrified Emma to no end, but now it gave her an entirely different perspective. It eased her, for an odd reason. Perhaps it was the sincerity in them or what she had said next, because both reassured the blonde to the point of serenity.

"Perhaps it would be quite silly of me to say this, but you _can_ trust me. I would _never_ lead you on in any way and every emotion that I have towards you are nothing but genuine. I hope that you will be able to see that. I have… already opened myself up to you, dear. I can say that I _do_ trust you, Emma. I can only hope the same for you."

"I do…" Emma found herself saying. It was quiet and slightly hoarse with emotion, but the brunette had heard it with the smile that broke out across her face. "I probably wouldn't have told you this if I didn't. I… It sounds probably stupid, but I was afraid of you earlier. Or, well, at least right before I left, because I saw that _look_ in your eyes... and I just couldn't… handle it."

"I'm sorry that I had made you feel like that, Emma." She frowned, the hand on Emma's shoulder moving up to cup the blonde's cheek. "I promise you that I never meant to hurt you."

"I know. It was my own fault. I let my fears get the better of me and I really shouldn't have. I really shouldn't have doubted you." Emma closed her eyes, the warmth of the older woman's hand infused through her and it just felt wonderful. It left her entire body tingling and every fear had left in that moment. "Thank you for listening to me."

"You don't need to thank me, dear." Ms. Mills smiled softly, her thumb lightly caressing Emma's cheek before she had realized what she had been doing. She quickly pulled her hand away. "I'm willing to listen to whatever you have to say."

"Thank-... Okay." Emma licked her lips subconsciously before leaning into her seat now that the teacher had detached herself.

"What time is it?" The blonde asked after a few moments of silence.

"About six, dear." Ms. Mills looked away from her watch to glance at the blonde. "Do you need to be somewhere?"

"No. I planned on staying until the library closed." Emma shrugged. She didn't know how much time they had spent talking and hoped that she would get enough time to read, or perhaps talk more with the English teacher. "Do _you_ have to be somewhere?"

"Not exactly, dear." The brunette chuckled. "I had only planned on reading at home. But, seeing as to how it's quiet here and I have company, I can stay. If that is alright with you, of course?"

"That's perfectly fine. I'd enjoy the company." Emma's grin was wide, reaching her eyes with ease. "What are you reading?"

"Well, to be perfectly honest." Emma swore she could see Ms. Mills blush as she held up the book in her hand. It was a copy of the romance novel " _The Rogue Hunter"_. Emma blinked. Romance novel? She hadn't noticed the couple on the cover the first time. It looked like a red and black design from the distance. "It's a guilty pleasure."

"You like… _romance_ novels?"

"Paranormal romance. Vampires and… and such." Ms. Mills was quick to correct, although the darkening blush on her cheeks was evident to her mortification. "These have an interesting storyline that doesn't just revolve around, well, romance and sex."

Emma smirked. "I've read a series like that before, actually. They have these… shifters in 'em. I'm not going to judge you; you know that? You're allowed to read what you want."

"I… know." But she coughed awkwardly and set the book down. "You've read them before?"

"Yeah. I actually like them, believe it or not. They can be pretty funny, and they aren't really sappy like some romance novels. They have a plot, you know? More meaning to them than, just as you said, sex." It was Emma's turn to blush, but she hid it well, almost enough to pass it off as rouged cheeks. "What's your series like?"

"Oh, well… The vampires in this aren't exactly… They're genetically engineered and had originated from the lost city of Atlantis…" And that had Emma intrigued. She leaned forward and listened in on how Ms. Mills had explained the series without giving too much away.

"Wow…"

"Now you can see why I like them."

"I do. Now I have to spend more time at the library, huh?" Emma chuckled softly and reached over to grab the book that Ms. Mills had checked out.

"I suppose you could." The teacher shrugged and Emma could tell she was hiding something. So, the blonde stared at her expectantly.

"Or…" she mumbled.

"I do own the entire series." The teacher shamefully admitted. "But I don't have this book and it was my next one, so I decided to check if the library had a copy."

Emma shook her head, biting her lip to keep from laughing at the expression that Ms. Mills now had on her face.

"You can borrow them if you wish. But I do expect to receive them back how I had given them to you."

"You can trust me. I handle books carefully." Emma smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry."

"I'll bring the first couple with me tomorrow."

"Thanks." The blonde grinned with appreciation, handing the book over to Ms. Mills. "What other genres do you like?"

That question had sparked an entire conversation that had left them with no time to read their books. Emma wasn't sure how it was possible to find someone that had the same fascination in books as she did, but the proof was right there in front of her. She knew that if they were to get into another discussion about books, there was no stopping them. And they probably would have gone on for plenty hours more if it weren't for the librarian. She had politely told them that it was closing time, and to their astonishment, they had been talking for three hours straight.

Both obliged the librarian's wishes and left the building with their books in tow. Emma had her own stuffed into her backpack by the time they were outside and standing by the curb.

"I guess I should really be getting home." Emma mumbled, backing a distance away from the library to catch a peek at the time on the clock tower attached to it.

"I should, as well," the teacher concurred, her hand rummaging around inside of the purse slung onto her shoulder. She soon pulled out a set of car keys and smiled. "It's quite cold out here, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Emma readily agreed. As if on cue, she felt a shiver course down her spine from the cool night's air. "The only reason why I hate nighttime. It gets colder."

"It does, indeed." Ms. Mills chuckled. She looked around them before gesturing towards her Mercedes. "Why don't I take you home? It's too cold and late for you to walk alone, don't you think?"

"It's a small town." Emma shrugged and about hit herself for that. Here Ms. Mills was, being polite and offering her a ride home – which would no doubt be much warmer – and she was passing it off like an idiot.

"I wouldn't want you to catch a cold, dear."

"I wouldn't want to intrude."

"I insist." And then she flashed that brilliant smile of hers, which made Emma give in with a soft huff at herself.

"Thank you." Emma followed behind the brunette as they headed toward the readily awaiting car. She bit her lip, waiting as the teacher had unlocked the doors, and got in. Quickly, she put her seat belt on and waited. "I don't live far from here. It's just a few blocks down. It's that old apartment building."

Ms. Mills nodded and pulled away from the curb to head to their destination. The only words spoken were Emma's, during the drive, as she gave the directions towards her home. It wasn't long before they had arrived and the brunette put the car into park outside of the building.

"We're here, dear." She turned to look at Emma and the blonde blushed.

Why the hell was she blushing? Perhaps it was for the fact that the brunette had just driven her home and that they were just sitting there outside her apartment like they were supposed to do something.

"Yeah…" she lamely muttered, unbuckling her belt. "Thank you for the ride. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome, Emma." Ms. Mills offered her a warm smile. They locked on and held each other's gazes for a few seconds, and then Emma found herself leaning forward.

She didn't know what was possessing her to do so, but there she went. The proximity of the two was closing and the warmth only grew. She swore she saw the brunette teacher lean in closer as well, and soon enough, they weren't far apart.

Emma's breath caught in her throat at the closing distance, her green eyes locked on the older woman's tempting lips, and that little pink tongue that came out to lick them. They stayed those few mere inches apart for quite some time and Emma wasn't sure if she was screwing something up right now or not. Her head was rising towards the clouds, she was sure, and the heavy breath she was now having along with the way her heart was fluttering rapidly in her chest did not help any. She was quite sure Ms. Mills could hear it.

Then she heard the faintest of noises escape the brunette's parted lips. Emma wasn't quite sure what that was, and she didn't care, because that had led to what happened next, and what happened next was something that she would never forget.

She had leaned in to close the space between them. Emma nearly groaned as she felt the older woman's soft lips brush tentatively against her own. Her entire body was buzzing with pleasant tingles and she was sure no kiss had ever felt like this before. This felt almost… _magical_.

She had confirmed it all upon kissing the woman back, her lips pressing slightly harder against the plump ones in an intimate caress. She heard the faintest noise of pleasure from deep within the brunette's throat once again, and that had made Emma turn into putty. Dear Gods, the sound shot straight to the blonde's core. It was wrong, yes, but did she really care? No.

Then there was a hand snaking through her hair, which she had luckily released from her ponytail just hours beforehand. The feeling of fingers delving between each golden lock caused shivers to course down her spine and pleasant little goosebumps to form on her skin. Her own hand had found purchase on the older woman's right hip as she leaned in closer, enjoying the proximity to the fullest it could get in a cramped little car.

She felt a tongue slide across her lips before the two had finally pulled away. Both stay a close distance with lips parted and shallowed breath.

It was Emma who was first to speak, muttering, "sorry…" because she hadn't known what else to say and didn't exactly trust her mouth in that moment. Her head had felt like it was literally in the clouds.

"Don't be," was the English teacher's breathy response.

Emma's pale lips curled into a helpless smile at those two simple words. She didn't mind _at all_ that they had just kissed. She certainly hoped that this didn't come as a problem in the future, but then at the same time, she hoped that it wouldn't be forgotten, either. The blonde knew that she would never be able to forget it.

She tasted like apples and caramel coffee.

It wasn't until the brunette had cleared her throat, did Emma break from her mused thoughts. She pulled her hand from the other woman's hip- in which she had just remembered- and reached for the door handle.

"Thank you… for giving me a ride." Emma whispered, pulling the handle to pop the door open. "Goodnight, I hope you have a good one."

"Any time, dear." The words were much lighter and airier than they had been all night. And they had made the blonde smile. "Thank you, Emma, and have a wonderful night."

That smile hadn't left her lips, even as she reached her bedroom after a few questions from Mary Margaret regarding her trip to the library. The woman never protested her hanging out there for hours on end. It had become something of her thing when she had a busy mind. Her mother didn't want to keep her from it, and had learned that it was better to let her go, rather than keep her unhappy and locked up.

"Goodnight, Emma!" she heard both voices chime from downstairs.

"'Night!" she replied, flopping onto her bed.

If there had been any other night that she had dubbed the best, this would easily surpass it. Because this night – _and that very moment_ – had been the best in her entire life. Despite the way the day had started. She would do it again if it were to end as it did tonight.

And with a smile spread wide across Emma's face, she closed her eyes and let the darkness take over. Tomorrow was going to be a good day, she was sure. She would float on a cloud the entire time. She couldn't wait to see the English teacher once again. Hopefully slumber would approach quickly.


	9. The Chronicles of an English Teacher

Regina was sitting behind her desk, whisky colored eyes surveying the classroom full of students who were currently working on a test she had passed out. It was in the middle of first period class and all ending thoughts from last night had slowly melted into full-blown panic.

Upon arriving at the high school and coming to terms with reality of what had happened, she felt guilty and nerve-wracked. She felt as if she couldn't even _look_ at her students without thinking about that kiss with Emma last night. The thoughts that came to mind weren't pleasant, nor repulsed, but a complete mass of panicked voices blaring in her head like an auditorium full of chattering students.

 _Students that I kissed._

Because she just could _not_ get that single thought from quieting down. She was sure that her students thought she was about to get sick when she nearly stumbled over her own feet and paled upon realizing that.

Regina would have vowed to avoid Emma like the plague if she could, but the fact that the blonde was one of her students had ruled that option out. Then her mind soon began to reel over the fact that that very blonde would be in this very room in approximately two and a half hours.

Her mind began to race once again, trying to recall what she had thought last night before falling asleep. She needed to logically think this through, because she couldn't skip around this forever. Emma deserved better than some half-assed attempt to make things seem peachy keen when they really weren't. They needed to talk about what they had done, but for some reason, that had made Regina's stomach do somersaults. She wouldn't even know how to start such a conversation.

Plus, her ever doubtful mind had come up with the idea that Emma might not even want to talk about it. She might even regret kissing Regina in the first place, especially after she would have gloated at the fact that she got what she wanted. But, of course, that was Regina's own warped mind. She was her own bully and she didn't believe in happy endings because they never showed the slightest bit of interest in her.

She was startled out of her thoughts when a pair of feet shuffled up to her desk. Well, startled was a term used loosely. Regina had quite literally jumped in her seat, eyes wide as she looked up to the student that wore an identical expression, their test in hand.

"Sorry," the student mumbled, handing the brunette the small pack of papers.

"It's quite alright, dear. Thank you." Regina's bewildered stare soon began to dissipate, although her frantically beating heart pounded against her chest.

That was why she usually preferred picking tests up from their desks, or at least having them bring the paper to the podium. She must have been too distracted to inform the students to do just that, so they must have assumed to bring the tests to her. Regina would have to remember to tell the next two English classes to do just that.

It wasn't too long until first period had ended. Then second had come and gone as Regina had distracted herself with tests to correct. Third had gone without a cinch, since her mind had to focus on teaching the class for most of the period without room for other thoughts.

Come fourth period, her anxiety was back. Emma had now sauntered into the room with an emotionless expression. Her insecurity got the better of her and she figured that Emma really had gotten what she wanted and was satisfied. It was for the better, anyways, that they wouldn't dwell on such a thing.

With a newly added weight, the English teacher faced the class full of expectant students whose not-so-eager eyes were focused on her as she stood at the front of the room. Her eyes zeroed in on a certain blonde in the back with smiling green eyes. Even though her visage had remained stoic, Regina couldn't help her screaming heart. =

This was going to be a long period.

After the lesson was finished and the homework handed out, Regina had replaced herself in front of her desk to continue correcting the tests from second period. She was halfway through the stack when she heard a soft noise from beside her.

 _Emma_.

Regina looked up from the paper, gazing at the blonde through the top of her glasses. Emma was nonchalantly playing with her pencil with eyes focused in front of her, but the smile on her face had given her away. The brunette sighed internally and attracted her attention towards the tests once again, trying hard to ignore the piercing pain in her skull.

Then she heard it again. This time it was a slightly louder _cough cough_.

Regina's head snapped up to glare at the side of the blonde's head, only to be met with a pair of sparkling green eyes and an airy smile. Her breath had escaped her then and she remained motionless. How the hell could Emma do that to her? She had _literally_ stolen the breath right from Regina's lungs. And here she thought that that had been just a cheesy cliché.

" _Get back to work_ ," she mouthed to the blonde before glancing back down to the tests that were in front of her. Regina heard a soft groan, which she couldn't help but to smile at and it had only widened upon lifting her gaze up to where the blonde seemed to have obliged, and reluctantly so.

They had played that game for the remainder of the class period, where Emma would make a certain noise to disrupt the teacher from her concentrated work, then Regina would look up to see the blonde nonchalantly, once again, playing with her pencil as if she hadn't done it on purpose. But when Regina would have looked up quicker, she would see Emma smiling like a petulant child, looking quite pleased with herself.

When the bell had finally sounded and Emma moved her chair over to Regina as soon as the last student had left, she gave the brunette an entirely different grin. This was one similar to the one that she had flashed last night, beaming and easily reaching her eyes. _That_ was another that had taken Regina's breath and had earned an identical grin from her.

"Hi," the blonde greeted lamely.

"Hi," Regina chuckled, playing with the pen that she still had in her hand. She hadn't felt as nervous as she had this morning about having to talk with Emma. There was something about the blonde that had brought a calm aura to Regina with her presence.

"How was your day?"

"I've had better." She smiled sadly at the expression that had found its way upon Emma's face. "I've had a migraine," Regina quickly mended.

"You haven't taken anything for it?" Emma frowned.

The teacher shook her head and set the pen down, turning her body to face the blonde teenager. "I don't have any medication with me. Now, Emma." She reached forward to grab her hands, cupping them lightly in her own. "We really do need to talk about last night."

"Yeah…" Emma's smile was quickly wiped from her face.

"Are you gay, Emma?" The brunette tilted her head slightly.

"I… uh… yeah. Kinda thought that was obvious." The blonde shrugged nonchalantly. "I know that I didn't… tell you, but… I didn't know if that really mattered then, and I didn't want to freak you out. I know that there are some people that… that they tend to back away from people like me. They're scared, I guess, that I would hit on them."

Regina nodded slightly, a frown forming on her face. "I see," she murmured softly. "What happened last night, Emma, it… it shouldn't have."

"I know." The blonde resembled a kicked puppy with her head low and a frown creasing her face. "I'm sorry… That I- That I did that. I couldn't con-"

"It's not all your fault, if at all." Regina reassured, giving Emma's hands a gentle squeeze. "I could have stopped it, but I hadn't. Do not put the blame on yourself. I won't let you do that."

"You could get fired because of me!" Her voice was distressed, guilt etching her features.

But Regina shook her head. She wasn't about to let Emma fret over her and take the blame if something bad were to happen. "I could, but they do not have to know, Emma." The brunette brought their hands closer to her, trying her best at a soothing look. "You mustn't tell anyone about this; do you understand?" She silently nodded. "Good."

"I _promise_. It'll only be between you and me." The blonde's green gaze drifted down to their hands, then had soon shot back up to meet curious brown orbs. "What do we do?"

"What do you mean, dear?" Regina was quite afraid she knew what Emma was insinuating, and her fears were spoken upon the blonde's next words.

"We kissed. It has to account for something, right? What did… does it mean?" There were unspoken words in those doe-eyes and Regina could echo the same thoughts.

"I… I don't know, Emma." Regina closed her eyes, exhaling a deep sigh. "Instances like this are frowned upon in society, even if it was just a kiss."

"I know, but… I do know that. I want to know how… know _why_." Emma bit her lip and blurted with a vague, "I like you."

Regina's lips parted at the sudden outburst, the breath immediately leaving her lungs. She knew that Emma had liked her, of course, she was not blind, but hearing the blonde say those three little words... It brought her to a completely different plane of reality.

"I know, Emma," she said, her voice hoarse.

"Have I really been that obvious?" Her ego deflated.

"No," the English teacher was quick to respond. "But it was quite obvious after yo-... _we_ had kissed."

The blonde nodded slowly, her emerald eyes focused on their hands again. Regina had never let go. "What... what about you? Do you-..." the words died on her tongue but Regina knew what she had meant.

The brunette hesitated for a moment, her eyes darkening in thought. She was faced with the reality that she hadn't wanted to be sat in front of. She was asked the question that she never wanted to answer, because if she did, the floodgates wouldn't hold a damned thing back.

"Emma, I…" The teacher looked down to their hands before tentatively caressing the top of the blonde's hand with her thumb. "I _do_ like you, too. But, I… I don't see how this is going to work."

The look on Emma's face squeezed the brunette's heart. She looked radiant. Those were the words that she had wanted to hear and she had finally heard them, but the reality of it all crashed down on the poor blonde student as her expression changed.

"I know," she finally muttered somberly. "I don't know why I even chose to subject myself to this. I already knew that there was no good to come of this. I mean… I didn't even believe for a second that you were gay. And… really, I don't know."

"I... I… am, though…" The brunette teacher bit her lip, her eyes lightly closing. "I've had similar trouble as you when I was younger. I was scared to admit my true self to _anyone_ , including my own mother. But when I did… Let's just say my friends were never really my friends. They only enjoyed the lavish items I had in my home. And that is why I don't say anything to anyone else."

"People are assholes." Emma muttered, daring to give Regina's hand a tender squeeze. "One of my foster parents sent me back after I told them. They were super cool with things, and I didn't exactly think that it had mattered at the time. But I was dead wrong. I've learned to keep it to myself. Belle, Ruby, and Graham are the only other ones that know, and they're perfectly fine with it."

"They are, indeed... _assholes_." The brunette teacher nodded in agreement, a slight smirk on her lips from using the profanity aloud, although she could very well think of much stronger names to call them. "You are very lucky that you have friends who accept you, Emma."

"I know I am." Emma nodded, but then paused her movements. "Uh… Can I ask you a question?"

"It seems as if you already had, my dear." Ms. Mills gave the blonde a wry smile, which in return, had earned her a playful glare. "Go ahead, Emma. Ask me anything."

"You mentioned your mother, did you ever tell her?" It was an honest question, but the slight flinch and pained look in the older woman's eyes made Emma want to take it back. "You don't have to ans-"

"It's fine, Emma." The brunette sighed and brought one of her hands up to rub the bridge of her nose. "And, yes, I did tell her. She wasn't pleased, to say the least. She wanted me to have children and that of my very own so the family name would pass on, since I am an only child." Regina tried to mask the sudden emotion that had choked her up. "Of course, I had wanted children myself. But only when I found the _woman_ that I wanted to have them with. Do you know what she told me when I said that to her?"

When Emma shook her head quietly, the brunette continued. "She told me that I should marry a wealthy man and get pregnant, then divorce him and take the money and the baby. That's when I had decided to go to college and forget about that for a while. Remember when I had told you that I acquired a small job in journalism?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"When that failed and I had lost my job, I had no money. My mother had disowned me. But as soon as she caught wind that I had no job nor any money, she appeared with smiles and hugs. I was getting out of college by then and she said that she had found me the most _perfect_ job. I had willingly accepted, of course, excited that there was a slim chance that she had found one that had dealt with my personal interest."

"What was it?" Emma quietly asked.

"It was this job. Here in the small and lovely town called Storybrooke. Let me tell you, I have nothing against this town, but I had grown to dislike it all because of my mother." Regina chuckled coldly. "She told me that it would help me, being in this isolated town. There was no temptation and being a teacher, I just _could not_ influence these kids with my, quote unquote, 'homosexuality'. I, of course, had to oblige and remain dormant so my mother would never find out or else I would be out of luck."

"What about now? Us? Aren't you worried?" The blonde frowned.

That's when Regina slowly shook her head, a deep sorrow weighing in her chest. "My mother doesn't even call me anymore. And besides, I've earned enough money to keep on stable ground for a while." She blinked back a few tears before returning her hand to the others that were now on her lap. "I do not want to depend on her ever again."

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't be, dear. It's better off if she doesn't contact me. She only wants something when she does." _Like if I had found a man yet,_ she added silently in her head.

Emma gave a silent nod; her eyes had now glued themselves to the four hands bundled together on the brunette's lap. When she did speak, it was a very soft whisper.

"You haven't answered my question."

"What question was that, dear?" Regina had donned a furrowed set of brows.

"I suppose you have, slightly… But it's not… I want to know what you _think_ is the best for us. Should… Never mind, you know? It's stupid a-and like you said, it was only a kiss."

"Emma, honey." The brunette sighed, catching onto what Emma had been trying to say. The teen looked as if she had wanted to hit herself and Regina knew that feeling all too well. "I understand what you're asking me. I still do not know the answer to that. But…" Regina nibbled on her lower lip. "Why don't we talk about it over dinner tonight?" The words were out of her mouth before she knew it, spilling like verbal diarrhea before she could even lay an attempt to stop it. "At Granny's after school, perhaps?"

"I don't know about Granny's…" Emma mumbled. "Ruby's there and I really don't want her saying anything."

"How about that little sidewalk cafe?" She honestly did not know why she was digging herself into a deeper hole, it would only be harder to get out if she were to be in peril.

"That sounds like a plan." The blonde now wore a smile that stretched wide across her thin, pale lips. "Wait. It can't be directly after."

"Why not?"

"Detention," Emma grumbled disdainfully. "It runs for about an hour. I can meet you there at about a quarter to five?"

"I'll wait for you here, dear. I planned on taking you anyways." Regina flashed her a radiant grin with pearly teeth contrasting against blood red lips.

"Thanks." The blonde smiled in return.

"You might not want to do that just yet." The English teacher moved her hand up to cup Emma's cheek, giving it a light caress. The blonde had nuzzled the hand, moving into it with, what Regina had sworn, was a very faint purr.

"Do you like that?" Her voice dropped to a whisper.

"I do…" Emma let her dazzling green gaze land on Regina's, her head tilted slightly into the cupped hand.

"Good. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable." Regina flipped one of the seventeen-year-old's hands over and laced olive with ivory. "Tell me if you ever do, alright?"

"Are we… really going to do this?" Emma asked tentatively, her eyes sliding down to their now laced hands. A slow smile spread across her lips from the sight.

"We'll discuss that over dinner when we have more time to spare." The brunette leaned forward slightly and whispered, her head jerking towards the far side of the room. "You'll be having to go soon, dear."

" _Fuck_! I mean _shit_! No... _damn… crap_!" Emma used her free hand to fumble with her backpack to pull out a paper bag. "Lunch!"

"It's quite alright, dear." The brunette chuckled richly, watching with amused eyes as the blonde struggled to pull a Styrofoam container out with one hand.

"Here. I think it's nachos or something. It smelled _really_ good."

"Thank you, so very much, Emma." The teacher licked her lips, chestnut orbs focused on the container of food. "I do believe that Mr. Glass allows students to eat in his class, and if not, I will see to it that he will allow you."

"Really?"

"Of course! You do need to eat and I know that you cannot afford to miss that class." One of her perfectly sculpted brows propped up.

"What? Have you been stalking my grades or something? Can you even do that?" And now Emma was bewildered, her green eyes as wide as saucers.

"I looked _once_ while I was entering in your grade for the last writing assignment. So no, dear, I am not a stalker." The brunette shook her head, an amused smile on her lips. "Now, you've got to get going. The bell is about to ring and I doubt that you want to be late."

"Eh." Emma shrugged and looked at their hands, giving Regina's a gentle squeeze before she stood, although she had never let go. "I wish you could come with me, because it sucks and Belle isn't here today."

"I'm sorry, dear. But I must stay here and… plan." She chuckled softly. "Have a good rest of the day, Emma, and I shall see you after your punishment."

"Yeah… Punishment. Way to make it sound less shitty." Emma's cheeks, though, were fused bright pink. "But, uh, have a fun time with your 'planning' and enjoy lunch."

"Thank you, Emma." Regina tilted her head up to gaze at the blonde, a sated smile on her lips.

The blonde had nodded and turned to start walking away, but she was pulled back by the hand she still had a tight grasp onto. She laughed and finally untangled their fingers, nervously sliding them through her hair. "Sorry."

"It's quite alright, honey." The teacher shook her head and watched as the sheepish girl had finally left the room, which had now left Regina alone with her thoughts.

She opened the container and took the plastic fork taped to the top so she could stab at the soggy chips of what appeared to be very cheesy nachos. Her thoughts wandered as she began eating. She didn't exactly know what was going on or what would happen to her relationship with Emma. They seemed to be moving forward, or so that's exactly what Regina had started doing. She didn't seem to be entirely conscious whilst doing it. Hopefully things would get cleared up over dinner later.

 _Dinner._

Regina had virtually asked Emma out on a date without even realizing it. She was only digging herself deeper into this hole that she had started. She hoped that she hadn't done it for nothing because it'll be one hell of a thing to get out of.


	10. One Step Forward and a Lasagna Later

Emma Swan fumbled with her backpack, pulling at loose strings as she sat outside of Mr. Gold's office. It had been an hour of doing just that, for the most part. She had to write a paper explaining her behavior and why she had hit that boy.

Of course, Mr. Gold had already known why Emma started the fight and that was why she wasn't suspended. She figured the principal had it in for the English teacher, or something of that ilk. Whatever it may be, he really wasn't going to be dipping a toe into those waters any time soon.

The blonde had sat for most of the hour, thinking about the dinner that she would be having with the brunette after she would be released from this little hell. She thought it would be quiet, fast, and peaceful sitting alone in the office for her punishment. But she had been dead wrong. Upon entering the domain, she soon realized just where those two boys would be. They were serving out their punishments not two tables away from Emma.

She would have pummeled their faces into the ground if not for Mr. Gold's ever watchful eye. So, she had sat down and tried her best to ignore their disgusting comments. Thankfully the principal had put an end to all noises and told them to get to work before he would add another week for their insubordination.

Emma was now watching the two teenagers from the corner of her eyes. Each were at a different table, but with Mr. Gold's absence, they decided to make a game of it and had started to throw bits of paper at each other, all the while laughing and jeering.

She really disliked teenage boys. Well, it wasn't all of them, but more specifically these two. And the only reason why she disliked them was for their rude and crass comments about Ms. Mills. Even then, she felt offended by their cruel words, but now, it felt far more personal. It wasn't even just for the fact that they were making those same comments about her as well, no. It was for some reason far different.

What was she getting herself into? That's what she had been asking herself ever since she woke up this morning, and the question had come more frequent after lunch. But those matters would be sorted through later, because right now, there was Mr. Gold coming out of his office to relieve them.

And as soon as he had, she was out of that office in no time and on her way to Ms. Mills' room. Her heart was fluttering madly in her chest at the thought. Those two were virtually going out on a date, although she wasn't quite sure if her brunette teacher had thought that at the time or not. But whatever it may be, she felt anxious as hell.

That was, until she heard footsteps behind her. Her mind immediately jumped to the thought of Ms. Mills, but the older woman usually wore heels…

Whipping around, she came face to face with the boy she had punched yesterday. His jaw had ugly bruises on it that made Emma proud, but the angry scowl on his lips scared proud Emma away and replaced her with a more fearful one. The teenager was much larger than her and she didn't have much of an advantage against him, especially if his equally giant friend was standing behind him. In the class, she had an advantage; Ms. Mills was there to end things when it had gotten rough, and to begin with, the boy wasn't suspecting her to deck him.

Emma straightened her back and made eye contact with the boy, pushing her fears to the far corner of her brain. She had to show them that she wasn't afraid, which was a tactic that she used before. So she growled, "What do you want?"

" _You_ ," the boy growled, taking a step toward her. Emma stood her ground, eyes narrowing. She knew the hallways were empty, since most students were gone by now and the darkened rooms told Emma that most of the teachers were gone as well.

"Why? The fuck you want me for?" The blonde glared up at the teenager, her teeth slightly bared.

"To get you back for punching me, you cunt!" Effortlessly, he slammed Emma against one of the lockers, pinning her to it. She struggled, her eyes widening.

"Would you really be such a fucking jerk and hit a defenseless girl?" She snarled.

"Defenseless, my ass!" And then Emma's knee met with his groin, causing him to cry out. Taking advantage of his lost grip, Emma darted away from him and down the hallway toward Ms. Mills' room. Hopefully she could get there before they were to follow her.

But, her luck was not so great that day, for jerk number one's friend, jerk number two, seized her arm, ultimately yanking the blonde into a backwards halt.

" _Fuck!_ " Emma squawked in surprise, her emerald eyes as wide as saucers. Oh, gods, she hoped _someone_ had heard her. She really didn't feel like being in pain today. And her fear only heightened when jerk number one straightened up and started to slowly limp towards the two of them.

"And now, you're _really_ going to pay." He growled, not even giving Emma a chance at a retort before his fist met with her face. The recoil caused both Emma and jerk number two to stumble backwards, and when she was no longer being held, she had fallen to the ground.

Pain radiated from her left eye, completely filling her senses. She vaguely heard the cruel laughter of the two boys before they had walked off. It was a relief that he wasn't going to continue because she didn't think she could handle all that pain at once.

She held her cheek, willing the pain to go away, but she knew that wasn't going to happen any time soon. Then sudden realization hit her as she remembered where she was heading. She was supposed to go out with the brunette English teacher.

 _Oh, no…_

Emma couldn't let the older woman see her like this. She couldn't let her know that she was _weak_. Perhaps she could try to cover it up with her hair. Sure, it'll be an odd look, but at least it would hide it. Now she really wished that she was like some of those other girls that carried makeup around with them.

Cursing herself, she picked herself up off the ground with a hefty grunt. She was left swaying on her feet as blood rushed to her head, blackness dotting her vision. After a minute of standing still to regain herself and kicking her bag halfway down the hall to pick up later, Emma turned around and headed back to the main hall. Soon, she found the women's bathroom and entered. She needed to find a good way to keep her hair to prevent Ms. Mills from seeing and it was rather hard when she didn't know exactly _where_ she was flipping those locks.

As soon as she lifted her gaze to the mirror, she gasped. Her eye was already starting to turn sickly colors and there was a small spot of blood on her cheekbone. It looked horrid, but she would be able to hide it well. She thanked whatever higher deity that it wasn't her jaw that had lain victim because that would sure as hell be hard to hide.

After fixing her hair to lay over the left side of her face, she left the bathroom and, once again, headed towards the English hallway. It wasn't long until she made it to her backpack and bent to pick the object up on her way to Ms. Mills' room.

Her nerves got the better of her once she had reached the door. She stood outside of it for several heartbeats, and in her case, that would have been quite a lot. Her heart was pounding in a rapid tattoo against her chest and she could feel her body tremble.

Shaking those feelings away and sucking up her anxiety, she reached for the door handle and opened the barrier between the two of them.

"Emma!" She heard the familiar voice call from the other side of the room. "I thought you would have been here sooner."

When Emma looked up, the brunette wore a concerned expression as she pushed herself from her chair.

"Are you alright, honey? You look a little pale..."

"I'm fine." Emma forced a smile, because she was, in fact, the opposite of fine. Her eye was throbbing, her ass hurt from landing so hard on it, her palms were sweaty as hell and on top of all that, her stomach was doing so many flips she thought she was about to get sick. And now she just lied straight to Ms. Mills' face.

The brunette only frowned and crossed the distance between them, the spicy scent of Ms. Mills' perfume engulfed Emma's senses. "Are you sure?"

The blonde swallowed hard and looked away. She couldn't bring herself to lie to the woman again, but she didn't want to say anything else. "Are we still going?" she asked instead.

"Yes, we are. Of course." The teacher tilted her head, her dark eyes still mixed with worry. "I'll go grab my purse and coat, then we can leave."

"Alright." Emma nodded and watched as the brunette did just that. Normally she would take advantage to ogle Regina's perfect rump, but the pain had just been too intense and she felt as if she just could not concentrate. Therefore, she had missed the words that the brunette had spoken when she had headed back over to the blonde.

"Emma?" Then there was a hand on her cheek, soft and gentle fingers lightly skittering over the surface. But then one of those fingers brushed against the fresh cut on Emma's cheekbone and she flinched back in pain, forcing Regina's hand from her.

"Emma… Wh-what happened?" The teacher's hand moved up once again to Emma's left cheek, hovering over the skin so she wouldn't accidentally brush over the tender flesh.

"It's nothing." She shrugged, turning her head away from the hand. "Why don't we go?"

"Emma, dear." Ms. Mills frowned, the hand left abandoned in the air had curled into a fist before landing by her side. "Who did this to you?" Her voice was a whisper.

"It was that boy that I hit yesterday. He wanted payback, I guess." Emma bit her lip.

"Why would he do this to you?" All the anger melted into distress, and before the blonde knew it, she was engulfed into warm arms. "We can't go to the cafe."

"I'm sorry I'm mutilated," the blonde stated solemnly, her right cheek pressed against Ms. Mills' shoulder.

"No. No, dear. That's not what I meant." Regina frowned, her grip tightening around the blonde's petite form. "I meant that you're more than likely in pain, yes? You need ice and medication."

Emma nodded slightly, but continued to frown. Did the teacher really want to get rid of her just like that?

"I'll start walking home, then," she finally mumbled.

"No," Ms. Mills was quick to respond and Emma swore she could feel the arms constrict even tighter. "I'll take you home. To… to my house, I mean. We're still having dinner, regardless." Then she whispered, "if you want, or else I'll take you to your apartment if that's what you desire."

"You do owe me a talk," Emma muttered against the brunette's coat.

"Does that mean that you want to come with me?"

The blonde merely nodded this time, pulling herself from the older woman's arms. She was going to take her to _her_ _house_. Emma just _could not_ believe what was happening right now. Anyone in their right mind would be freaking out, she thought as they headed toward the door.

"How are you feeling, dear?" The brunette asked, her hand lightly gripping Emma's elbow as they neared her Mercedes.

"My face hurts like fucking hell." Emma mumbled, grounding her jaw. "But, aside from that, I'm pretty good. Spending time with you evens it out."

That was a risky statement, but she took it.

Anything that earned a smile like _that_ from the brunette teacher was worth doing anything for.

"Does it really?" The brunette asked dubiously, digging her car keys from her pocket to open the passenger's door.

"Yes," Emma simply answered, ducking her head as she got in. Her gaze lifted to Ms. Mills who had been waiting for her to get in. "I'm usually not… I don't know, but for some reason, you just make my day better. And I really like to see you smile."

" _Emma_." Regina nibbled on her lower lip, but the smile never faded. "How could I ever stop smiling when you're around?" she whispered softly. "You're one of the sweetest people that I have ever met."

"I'm really not sweet," the blonde mumbled as blood raced to color her cheeks pink.

"Well, you _are_ selfless." Ms. Mills brought a hand to cup Emma's face, but she soon dropped her arm as she had realized that the teenager's skin was bruised. "We ought to get going, dear. You need ice on that."

Emma nodded, unable to respond as the teacher closed the passenger's door to head toward the driver's side. The blonde watched each graceful step that the brunette had taken. Her body was like a work of art. The thought of what lay hidden underneath those articles of clothing had Emma in goosebumps.

That really wasn't something she should be thinking about, and she scolded herself for it. This woman was doing a good deed by showing her kindness and concern over her injury, and the only way Emma could repay her was by imagining what the brunette teacher looked like nude.

"Are you alright, dear? You look a little flushed…" The profound, husky voice next to Emma sounded, startling her from her veering thoughts.

"I-I'm fine," she stammered, her heart drumming furiously in her chest. "When did you get in here?"

That earned an eyebrow quirk. "Only a moment ago, but you were staring at the cement and I got worried."

"I was?" The blonde tilted her head, her cheeks heating with embarrassment. She must have really been lost in thought if she hadn't noticed that Ms. Mills had even moved from her line of sight, let alone enter the vehicle.

"Yes, dear." The brunette chuckled softly before starting up the Mercedes. "Perhaps you're in dire need of medication, more so than I thought."

"Probably." Emma couldn't help but to giggle.

"Then we shall go." Regina pointed towards the blonde. "Put your seatbelt on. Safety first."

"Yeah, safety." And so, she clicked the belt into place, looking over to the brunette once she had finished. "Ready?"

" _Mhm_." Ms. Mills put the car into drive and pulled out of the nearly empty parking lot.

After several long minutes of comfortable silence, the Mercedes pulled into the driveway of what appeared to be a small mansion and Emma's jaw dropped. She stared at the white structure, unable to conceive what she was seeing. Sure, she assumed Ms. Mills was well off, but not _this_ much.

"It's so _big_."

"I suppose it is, yes," the teacher muttered softly as she shut the car down and unbuckled her seat belt.

Emma unbuckled her own seat belt, popping out of the car as soon as the doors were unlocked. She continued to gawk at the house, even as they walked up the path to the porch and white front door that had a large 108 in the middle of it.

As Regina fumbled with the lock, Emma couldn't help but to comment. "It must be really nice."

"It's just a house." Regina had paused momentarily as she spoke to look at her.

Emma saw the look that crossed over Regina's features. She had become familiar with it throughout their lunches. It was that empty look that she got every time there was a mention of either friends or family.

Despite the heaviness that had taken a tone to the brunette's voice, Emma decided to press. She normally tried to, working her way through the tough exterior that Regina had built for herself. "Why do you say that?"

Regina sighed at the question and hung her pea coat up in the hall closet next to the front door. Emma had nearly forgotten she had asked the question as soon as she had stepped foot into the foyer. The house was just gorgeous and lavishly decorated. Her eyes caught sight of a chandelier and her jaw dropped once again. There was a _chandelier_ in the _foyer_. She could only imagine what other expensive structures wait inside the rest of the house.

"It's empty. I have no one to share it with, so what's the point of all this… _material_?" Regina turned to look at Emma. "The house has become just another thing in my everyday life. It lost its glow after I had realized how big it really was and how lonely I was in it by myself."

She was taken aback when Regina had finally replied to the question, which left the blonde confused for a moment before remembering why she explained what she had. "Why did you buy such a big house, then?"

"I didn't," she whispered, walking towards the left side of the foyer. Emma followed behind her, soon realizing that they were heading to the kitchen. She took advantage and gazed upon the walls around her. They were filled with meaningless art.

"What do you mean?" Emma leaned against the island counter, forest eyes tracking Regina's every movement while she began to prepare their dinner.

Regina didn't look at her as she spoke, but merely continued with the preparation. "My mother had bought it for me." Her tone was clipped.

"So, what do you plan on making for dinner?" Emma asked, dropping the previous topic completely. She saw the way Regina's shoulders had visibly relaxed upon the question and decided that she made a good choice.

"I planned on making lasagna. Well, warming some up, since I had made it last night and had leftovers, if you don't mind?" The brunette's eyes twinkled with amusement upon the distasteful look on Emma's face. "You cannot hate it unless you try it, dear. At least try mine." Ms. Mills purred softly, her feet taking her toward the refrigerator. After pulling something out, she retraced her tracks to the island and handed Emma an ice pack.

"Thanks," Emma muttered, immediately taking the small pack to gently place over her left eye. "I'll try it, only because you're making it. Leftovers are always better, anyways."

"Thank you, dear." She grinned widely and tentatively took a step forward to place a chaste kiss on the blonde's cheek. "Now, I'll get this ready to throw in the oven, then I'll get the pain pills… Now that I think of it, I probably should do it now."

"No. I can wait. It's fine. The ice is helping, thank you." The blonde couldn't help the ever-growing blush on her cheeks.

"I can get them written up for doing this to you, Emma." Regina paused her work and turned a serious eye on the blonde. "They could get suspended."

"No, don't." Emma quickly responded, shaking her head. "It'll only make things worse, trust me. You know how people can be. They'll only want to smash my face in if they knew I tattled on 'em."

"Are you sure?" The brunette asked, leaning towards Emma. When she nodded, Regina sighed and proceeded with preparing the lasagna. "I'll create a seating chart so you wouldn't have to be seated next to them."

"Would you really do that?" Emma tilted her head, using a finger to nab some stray sauce on the side of the pan.

"Of course, dear." The brunette gave her a quick shake of the head at the action, but decided against voicing her disapproval. "I can't expel them from my class without reason. Students get into fights all the time. I cannot show favor." Then she added with a low whisper, probably not meant to be heard, but Emma had picked the words up, " _even though I wish I could_."

Emma smiled softly and watched Regina as she picked the lasagna up and slid it into the oven. Her head tilted ever so slightly as she watched the round rump that had taken her line of view.

" _Me too_ ," she whispered, and the way that the teacher had stood stark upright had told the blonde that she had heard the response. "But, I know that you can't in class. _Although…"_

"Although?" Regina walked slowly over to Emma.

"We aren't in class, so you can favor me all you want." Emma grinned. But, soon enough, her face twisted as she realized what she had said. "That sounds so cheesy."

But the English teacher had only shrugged and reached forward to take Emma's hand. "I like your cheesy." A smile was spread wide across her face as she tugged on the red-cheeked Emma's hand.

"Where are we going?" The blonde asked, following behind Regina as they had left the kitchen and entered the hallway once again.

They crossed the foyer and entered another room. A living room, Emma noticed, looking around at the lavish room with large, comfy couches and chairs, and a large television placed across them.

"I'm taking you here." The brunette grinned and led Emma toward one of the cream-colored couches. "I hope that you don't mind waiting as I grab the pills from upstairs, do you, dear?"

"Of course not!"

"Perfect. Please, make yourself at home. The remote to the television is right there on the coffee table." Then she left to fulfill her promise.

Emma sighed and leaned back against the couch. Her eye was throbbing again. That damn ice wasn't doing much to help her. In fact, it felt as if it were only freezing her skin and making it even more painful.

With her boredom increasing, Emma reached over to grab the remote and flicked the television on. And when she had, she was greeted by an ungodly noise that had the blonde chucking the remoted away from her as if it were the culprit. Her entire body was haphazardly splayed out on the floor between the couch and coffee table as soon as she realized what she had done and scrambled to find the remote and its pieces so she could turn that _horrendous_ noise off.

"What the _fuck_?!" She yelled over the noise as one of the batteries rolled underneath the couch. Just her luck. Break and lose something her first day in Regina Mills' house.

Regina had found Emma arm deep underneath the couch, her face contorted in her struggle as she tried to stretch for an object. And that was her own luck once again. No doubt the deafening noise had alerted the brunette.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" Regina yelled over the noise as she moved toward the television.

The music blasting from the television was suddenly cut off, leaving a deafening moment of silence. It took a moment before Emma could regain herself and continue with all her might to reach that rollaway battery. She yelped a cheer as her fingers grazed over the cool cylinder, and soon she was crawling back onto the plush surface of the couch.

Her green eyes met with the questioning brown ones of Regina's, and she offered a sheepish smile. "The TV. I turned it on and… it was loud. I fell and dropped… everything."

"Uh huh…" Those dark eyes drifted towards the now whole remote in Emma's hand.

"Which raises the question, though." Emma's voice caused the brunette's attention to snap back up toward her. "Why the hell was your TV so loud? Were you trying to make yourself deaf?"

"Well, sometimes I _do_ get tired of being able to hear properly." Ms. Mills replied with a sly smirk.

"Really?" Emma quirked a brow.

"No. I like listening to music while I do housework. I must have forgotten to turn the volume down before turning the television off."

"Why don't you wear headphones like regular people?" Emma muttered, half for her disdain towards the TV that nearly made her pass a bowel movement on the living room carpet.

"I am not regular people." Regina chirped, taking an elegant step towards the couch so she could sit next to the blonde.

"And am I glad. You're unique and I like that." The blonde gave her a large grin, which in return, earned her a bright smile.

"I'm glad that you think so, Emma." The teacher gently picked up Emma's hand, turning her palm upwards so she could drop the pills into it. "Here, dear. This should help ease your pain."

"Thank you." Emma turned her gaze up to the older woman and couldn't help but to lean in.

Her heartbeat rose and it felt as if they were back in the Mercedes. Whatever the force had been that had pulled them together then was working its magic now, or at least on her. The brunette just watched her with expectant eyes and perfect lips pursed. The blonde had licked her own subconsciously before daring a chaste kiss to those very lips in front of her. It was a momentary spark that caught Emma's breath in her throat. When she had pulled from the small gesture of gratitude, her breathing had become shallow.

"You're welcome, dear," Regina mostly purred her words, and when Emma gazed into her eyes for a second time, she had noticed that they were much darker than before. Then she leaned forward and the blonde swore she was going to kiss her again, but the older woman's mouth missed her own and, instead, went straight to her ear and whispered, "take the pills."

Emma nodded and obliged, popping the tablets into her mouth before swallowing them dry. And as soon as she had done that, the brunette was in her personal space, their hips touching and their mouths only a breadth apart. It was almost dizzying and before she knew it, their lips were crashing against one another's.

If the kiss in the car wasn't amazing enough, this one just took the cake. Emma couldn't help but let a soft groan rumble in her throat, especially when Regina nibbled ever so slightly on her lower lip. It felt like such a sweet gesture, as did the arms that enveloped her and ultimately brought the two together in a much deeper kiss.

The blonde pressed herself closer to the older woman, her fingers curling pleasantly into raven locks as the second tentatively explored further, eventually finding base at Regina's lower back. The brunette gave a sultry moan that shot straight to Emma's core, and she suddenly wondered if Regina was feeling like this too.

She soon felt a tongue slide against her lips, tracing the crease between top and bottom. Taking this as a request, Emma granted permission by parting her lips and her mouth was soon invaded by the English teacher's sweet tongue. If she hadn't caught the spicy flavor of the brunette's mouth before, she did now, and it tasted just like the nachos that the woman had eaten for lunch. Emma wasn't always one for tasting her food a second time, but there was something about a little Regina flavor mixed with it that made the prior meal all the better.

And like clockwork, she felt a hand exploring her gentle curves, sliding up her sides from her hips to… _oh_. Emma groaned against the brunette's mouth as her hands found a mound of sensitive flesh on her chest and squeezed ever so softly.

 _Beeeeeeeep!_

The two ignored the faint bell coming from the kitchen. They had been so lost in each other and neither one wanted to let this moment go.

 _Beeeeeeeep!_

The timer had gone off a second time. Emma heard Regina grunt with irritation, but she showed no sign of moving.

 _Beeeeeeeep!_

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Regina growled as she pulled away from the blonde and stood, sauntering off with heavy steps.

Emma blinked, a stunned expression on her visage. She's never heard Ms. Mills use such language, nor had she seen her so _aggravated_.

 _She must have enjoyed it as much me._

Emma smirked to herself, using the back of her hand to wipe the saliva from around her mouth. Who would have known how far that would have gone if not for the timer? But, then again, perhaps it was perfect timing. The blonde's stomach grumbled as if on cue.

"The lasagna's done, dear!" She heard that familiarly wonderful voice sound from across the house. It hadn't taken long for the blonde to hoist herself up from the couch and make her way to the dining room, where Regina had already set the rather delicious smelling lasagna.

"It smells terrific... Regina." Emma smiled, her forest eyes on the steaming casserole. She tried not to look at the reaction on the teacher's face after using her first name – which, as Emma could recall, would be the very first time she had used it.

"Thank you, Emma." The brunette pulled out a chair and gestured to it. "Please, do have a seat. I shall get the dinner plates and then we can start eating." And then she was gone.

The blonde had waited until she was completely out of sight before staring the lasagna down. Normally she hated the meal, but she was going to give _this_ one a chance since it had been made by Regina. Perhaps it would turn out alright. Upon further inspection of the door leading to the kitchen, Emma extended a hand to dip her finger into the sauce.

"It is bad manners to stick your fingers in the dish." A warning voice caused the blonde to jump and don a sheepish face.

"Sorry… It just looked _so_ good."

" _Mhm_ …" Regina quirked a brow before setting a white dinner plate in front of the blonde. She soon served her up a perfect square before serving herself. "I do hope you enjoy. It's my own recipe."

"I'm sure I will." Emma beamed, her eyes dropping to the lasagna on her plate. With slight reluctance, she dug her fork into the very corner of the square and lifted it to her mouth. As soon as she had slid the fork from between her lips, she broke into the largest smile.

"I think I just found my favorite meal."

"Did you now?" Regina emitted a proud glow in her aura.

"Yes! It's really good." And to prove just that, Emma took another bite, one much larger than the last.

"I am certainly glad that you find my lasagna to be up to your standards." The brunette gave her a wry smile before taking a dainty bite off her fork.

"I like it. I like it almost as much as I like you, and that's a lot."

Those words had earned Emma a speechless Regina and a foot in her mouth. Perhaps she shouldn't have said that. Sometimes she just didn't have a goddamn filter on her mouth. She really needed to get that fixed. So, for now, she stuffed another bite in her mouth.

"It's quite comforting to hear that I am better liked than the lasagna I make. That's quite something, considering that I'm sure others would prefer my cooking over the cook." The brunette had finally spoken, a wry smile on her lips. "Although, I do quite like you as well, dear. More than apples, even, and _that's_ a lot."

"Huh…" A smile broke out on Emma's face. "I'm glad I'm more worthy than apples."

Regina hummed, taking another forkful of lasagna before speaking again. "And speaking of liking, we still have to talk."

"We do. You still have to answer my question. What do you want to do? About… all of this." The blonde gestured to herself, smirking with amusement at the face that her teacher had suddenly donned.

" _Emma_ …"

"I know, I know. I was joking. Well, only sort of… because I really want to-" Emma set her fork down and sighed, running her fingers through her blonde mane. "You know I'm really not one to be so open with my feelings, and I'm really not used to _this_ type of stuff. I understand, and I really, honestly do, if you don't want to do anything about it. I know this is risky already for you. I wouldn't want you to lose your job over me. Hell, I would understand completely if you want to turn away _because_ of that. I'm really not worth the risk. I don't know why you've bothered to invite me over here."

" _Emma_ , honey, just stop right there." Regina's tone was gentle, and her equally as gentle hand reached across the table to the blonde's own. "You don't give yourself as much confidence as you should. I do understand that everything that we're doing is a risk to my job. And I do know that we really should not be doing this, and _I_ should know better than to let myself fall into this hole-"

"See, I knew that I'm not wron-"

" _But_ ," the brunette quickly interrupted, her lips pursed. "I find myself so intrigued by you, Emma. I cannot stop these feelings that I have. The moral side of my conscious is telling me to just _back away_. This isn't worth the risk. But in my heart, it is. You're worth the risk and so much more."

Regina paused and closed her eyes, rubbing the topside of Emma's hand ever so softly. "I've been having debates with myself all night and day, and I have been desperately trying to come to a worthy conclusion. And I think I have, Emma. I have your answer, even though it might sound so very crazy. Are you ready to hear it?"

"Yeah, I am." Emma's voice cracked and she was quite sure that it had been noticed by the brunette teacher for she felt the older woman's grip tighten on her hand.

"I was thinking that… that perhaps we can-" The woman stumbled, as if trying to find the right words. Emma could see the mild confusion in those brown pools. "We can test this out. If you want to, Emma."

"You mean- Do you mean that we can try to have a relationship?"

"That's- I was thinking something along the lines of testing those waters out, dear. We would have to keep quiet, though. No one inside the school can know. Nor anyone outside for that matter…"

"I know." Emma nodded, a smile creeping onto her face. Suddenly she felt so much lighter than before. There was a fear that she would float into the clouds like a feather. "No one will know."

"Emma? Do you… want to try it?" The brunette asked tentatively, and when Emma looked up, her heart broke. Regina had looked as if she were expecting to be rejected and kept any other expectation low.

"Of course." And just like that, those fears swirling in chocolate eyes were vanquished and replaced with elation.

"Really?" Regina's smile turned Emma into putty, and the blonde just nodded.

"Why wouldn't I? You're a wonderful woman, Regina. You're kind, sweet, and caring." She carefully gave the older woman's hand a squeeze. "And I am completely _honored_ that you like me back and that you actually want to try something like _this._ You've basically invited me on a date already."

"You don't need to flatter me." The brunette's cheeks had visibly reddened, delighting Emma to a bright smile.

"Well, we _are_ on a date. Am I not supposed to be flattering you?"

"A date," Regina chuckled, shaking her head slowly as if she couldn't believe those very words were coming from her mouth. "I suppose this would be our first one?"

"Well, if you wanted to play like that, yeah." The blonde nodded. "I don't know what people do on dates, so…"

"Honestly, I've never been on a good one, so neither do I." She laughed, this time, something full and hearty.

"A good one? You've been on dates before?" Emma blinked. She hadn't thought Regina would be the type to go on a date, especially since she had tried to keep her sexuality a secret.

"Yes." The brunette rolled her eyes. "They were with men that my mother had set up with me when I had first moved here. They were all unsuccessful and boring. Most of the time I had ended up telling them that I preferred women to get entertainment."

Emma leaned forward, intrigued. "Holy shit, really? What'd they do?"

"One of them just nodded and said 'knew it' before getting up and walking out, leaving me with the bill." She wrinkled her nose at the memory. "Another one had been homophobic and I nearly thought he was going to have a brain aneurysm. He, also, got up and left, but not without showing me what he really thought and dumped the rest of his meal on my _very_ expensive dress. Mother was not happy about that one."

"What an asshole," Emma commented with a frown, squeezing the teacher's hand. "I hate those people. Did he tell you that you were going to hell?"

"That among other things." Regina muttered bitterly. "The other guys weren't as bad. I mean, I caught them by surprise, though. One of them blatantly stated that I was ' _too hot to be lesbian'_ and the other said that it was ' _cool_ ' that I ' _digged chicks_ ' and that he would too if he were one because he liked ' _tits too much_.' We had remarkably talked for a few hours, but after that, we went our separate ways and I hadn't heard from him since."

"Sounds like you sure as hell had a lot of fun back then." Emma couldn't help but laugh at what the other woman had told her. "Have you had any dates with women?"

"Not dates, per say…" That had made the brunette squirm uncomfortably in her spot. Emma stared at her with wide, green eyes when sudden realization struck.

"You mean- you mean you had _booty calls_?"

"Now, that's just crass!" Regina protested, but the blush blooming on her cheeks gave her away. "They weren't _booty calls_ , Emma. They were-"

"Where the hell did you pick 'em up from if you didn't date them?"

"Nowhere. Just, I do not wish to have this conversation with you. It doesn't make me feel comfortable."

"But…"

" _Please._ "

" _Fine_. I'll drop it. Only because it looks like your head is going to explode." Emma smirked.

"Oh, quiet," Regina mumbled before releasing her grip on Emma's hand to stand up. "Why don't you go to the living room and pick out a movie while I put the dishes away? I suppose a proper date requires a good film?"

"And popcorn?"

"I'll make popcorn as well."

"You're awesome." The blonde grinned widely at the brunette before hopping off across the house to the sitting room.

It wasn't long before the two of them were sitting side by side on the large sofa with a bowl of popcorn on Emma's legs. The blonde had already popped the DVD into its player and hid the case to surprise Regina with. It had come to a surprise to her as she had discovered the movie in her teacher's collection.

"What movie did you pick, dear?" The brunette asked innocently, her eyes moving over the coffee table as she searched for the case. That had only made Emma smirk.

"You'll see," _and we'll probably want to rethink this popcorn_ , she added silently. Because, yeah, she chose a gory and _disgusting_ movie to watch. That film should be illegal on all planets of the universe and should be burned at some sort of stake.

"Emma...?"

The blonde had skipped every preview up to the warning screen with a wide, knowing smile on her face. "It's probably not date material, but I'm not a fan of those sappy rom-coms."

"... someone found my horror selection, I take it." Regina quirked a brow, her eyes sliding over to the flat screened television as the title screen popped up. " _The Human Centipede_ , Emma… _Really_?"

"Yeah… popcorn probably won't be…" The blonde wrinkled her nose and hit the play button so she could take a handful from the bowl. "Think we can finish it before the doctor starts doing the freaky shit?"

"I… uh…"

Emma laughed and playfully bumped into the older woman. "I didn't know you liked this sort of stuff. You're pretty demented, Regina, but that only makes me like you more."

"This movie was a part of some deal at the store." Regina finally found the right words to form a coherent sentence.

"A 'deal,' sure… Just admit it, you like the gross things." Emma mumbled, turning to stare at the brunette with curious eyes.

"Shh. The movie's starting."

With a pout, the blonde reluctantly faced the screen and focused on the opening. It wasn't until she felt an arm wrap around her neck did she smile and forget about the world for the time being.

It wasn't even an hour into the movie when Emma heard a soft snore. The position had changed quite a few times during the film until they finally ended up in their current situation. Emma was leaning against the arm of the couch with Regina's head lain across her lap. The brunette was curled up with one of the blonde's arms draped across her abdomen while the other propped her head up, using the couch's arm as support.

But when Emma had heard the snore, she looked down to see Regina snoozing peacefully. Her face was relaxed, her eyes closed, and she looked just _breathtaking_ while she slept. The blonde knew that she could watch Regina sleep all night without getting the least bit of bored.

With a warm smile on her face, Emma unconsciously brought the hand she had propping her head up with over to the brunette's own. Pale fingers slid tentatively through thick, raven locks, careful not to wake the sleeping woman. The sight was precious, especially when Regina's nose had twitched ever so slightly, but that was before a loud snore ripped from her and she tossed onto her other side, painfully digging her elbow into Emma.

She winced and bit her lip to keep from verbally expressing her pain, instead, she squeaked and brought her hands away from Regina. That woman was lethal in more ways than one. If not for that killer smile, it was those pointy elbows.

But Emma couldn't stay mad long, after all, Regina hadn't meant to do it, and that cute, relaxed expression on her face had melted her heart. Then she felt arms unconsciously wrap around her waist as a nose nuzzled into her lower belly.

"Well," she whispered softly, grinning like mad. Regina must have been a snuggler when she slept. It was one of the most precious things that Emma had laid eyes on.

Was she watching some sappy movie that had made herself just as goopy-hearted? What the hell were these thoughts? She was Emma Swan. She was the _Motherfucking Swan Beast_. She kicked ass to defend a woman's honor and she took that punch like a statue when it was sent her way. Well, for the most part. At least she hadn't cried like a baby.

Emma needed to toughen up. So, she looked up and proceeded to watch the film she was supposed to be viewing for the past who only knows how many minutes she had been fawning over the sleeping English teacher.

By the end of the movie, Emma had trouble keeping her eyes open. She hadn't realized how tired she had been until now, but that was probably because she had been running on adrenaline earlier that day in angst to see Ms. Mills. But now that she was resting and all the excitement was over, the lack of sleep from the previous day had taken its toll on her. She probably really should be getting home so she could do just that.

Although, Emma didn't know the time, but she assumed that it was late considering the sun had no longer glowed through the curtains. She bit her lip and searched the room for a source of time, nearly grunting in approval upon finding a clock on the far wall.

It was past seven.

Mary Margaret knew that she wasn't going to be home directly after detention today, but she hadn't exactly specified when she would be back, either. Usually they had an agreement that she would be back before ten on school nights, so she _did_ have a couple of hours yet. Plus, she didn't have the heart to wake up Regina. She looked so peaceful, and sounded much like someone threw a rock into a machine, because that woman could _snore_.

Emma smirked at the imperfection that she had discovered. It didn't bother her any, though. She quite liked it. It made the brunette _real_. And _that_ was just _perfect_.

If she didn't know what was what, she'd say she was falling rather hard for the brunette. She really liked her, and she knew that. Her feelings were inexpressible with the use of words and welled so much inside of the blonde that she felt as if she would implode at times. And that would happen often when the brunette did something that triggered those emotions, even so much as _smiled_ at her.

Whatever was happening between the two of them was just the beginning and Emma knew that it could go one of two ways. Whatever it may be, Emma was scared as hell. She didn't want the heartbreak, but she also didn't know how to handle things if they ever got more serious.

Those thoughts were all too frightening and they were beginning to push Emma on the edge of unease. She really needed to think about something else for now. Perhaps if she just slept on it since the heaviness of her eyelids seemed to be weighing the blonde down. Anyways, it wouldn't hurt to take a nap. She had plenty of time. And if not, she'd catch hell for being late.

 _It's totally worth it_ , she thought, looking down to the brunette still snoring peacefully on her lap.

 _Yes, so worth it_. Emma closed her eyes and leaned into a more comfortable position against the side of the couch. With her head lying back against the couch, she erased all thoughts from her mind and let go, evening out her breathing. The slight shifting at her legs only had the blonde smiling wider before eventually drifting off with ease to the sound of her companion's breathing.


	11. Crossing the Line and Snorting It

It was a finger jabbing into her ribs that had woken Emma from her sleep. The blonde, though, merely grumbled a complaint and shifted more comfortably in the spot where she was. Which, currently, she had no clue where the hell she was. It felt kind of lumpy and when she moved, her skin stuck to the surface.

It wasn't until another prod did she finally give in and open her eyes, momentarily confused by her surroundings and the looping title screen of a horror flick on the television. A much, much larger television than she had been used to at home.

"Welcome back, Emma." That husky voice sounding from beside her had Emma alert and awake in no time.

Then, she finally remembered where the hell she had been and that none of what had happened was part of a dream. This was real, and very much so. She turned to look groggily at the source of noise to be met with an equally as tired brunette.

"I could say the same for you," she mumbled softly, a yawn soon breaking from her mouth. "You were out for most of the movie."

"I do apologize, dear. I hadn't slept well."

"I kinda got that." Emma smiled. "Did you nap well, though?"

"I slept like a baby." Regina beamed, folding her hands onto her lap. "And I must thank you for that."

"Must you? You were so… _adorable_ ," she whispered the last word before it had completely died on her tongue. "I mean, you just _cuddled_ me… well, _after_ you nailed me with your elbow. Have you ever noticed how goddamn bony that thing is?"

That had caused Regina to lift her arm and eye the offending elbow. "Well, I suppose that they are. They make for a great weapon?"

"Yeah, but not to your cuddle buddy." Emma hesitantly reached over to grab the older woman's arm and poke at her joint.

"Cuddle buddy?" The brunette blinked, her chocolate orbs on Emma's actions as she proceeded to prod at her elbow.

The blonde had nodded at the question, ceasing her movements only to wrap her arms around Regina's own. "Yes. You literally cuddled me in your sleep. I'm not sure what position you woke up in, but you turned around and wrapped your arms around me, and just… _snuggled_."

The new information had Regina staring at the blonde, her body slightly rigid. "Well…" Then a rosy blush bloomed vividly onto her cheeks.

"Hey, don't be embarrassed. I liked it." Emma reassured, the cheesiest smile on her pale lips. "Although, I've never been much of an affectionate person."

"I'll try not to-"

"But… I like the cuddly Regina," Emma whispered softly. "You didn't let me finish. I'm not much of an affectionate person, but I wouldn't protest to it if given to me… by you, at least." The blonde offered a sheepish smile before finally releasing the English teacher's arm, then tried to scoot even closer against the brunette. "I don't know what it is, but whenever I'm with you, I feel… comfortable."

"You do?" Regina's arm slowly found its way around the blonde's waist, the warmest of smiles molding her lips.

Emma only nodded as she leaned into the older woman's arms, one of her own awkwardly wrapping around her abdomen and thought of how strange it felt – these feelings that developed.

"Emma, honey, it's almost nine-thirty. Do you know when you have to be back?" Regina's husky voice broke the silence, which had been so very comfortable for Emma since she was easily lost in thought.

"Mary Margaret usually wants me home before ten. So, I suppose I should get going." Emma frowned.

"I'll take you back, dear," Regina stated, pulling Emma close against her side and the blonde had assumed this was a hug, for she squeezed right back.

"Thank you, Regina, but I don't want to inconvenience you."

The brunette quirked a brow and eyed her wryly before standing up with Emma still attached to her hip. "I'm taking you home and that's final, Emma. I do not want you to walk around on the streets alone at this time of night. It can be dangerous, even if this is a small town. Bad things can still happen. The sheriff is your father, correct? He should know."

"I know." Emma mock pouted. "I'll go with you, _Ms. Mills._ "

Both of her eyebrows rose this time in perfectly manicured arches. "I thought you've taken habit of addressing me by my first name, _Miss Swan_." Although her voice was monotonous, the amused smile on her face had given away her perspective.

Emma smirked. "Well, you _are_ my teacher after all."

"Don't remind me." Regina mumbled, flicking a blonde lock away from Emma's face. "I'd really rather not think about such details for a while."

"I'm sorry. I-" Emma frowned, her brows knitted together.

She hadn't realized that Regina didn't like that thought, and it was going to be quite a strange thing, considering that Emma had her class. Every day would be a reminder to the two of them that they were in a forbidden relationship; that they were a teacher and a student.

Although, the thought _did_ thrill Emma to a certain extent. She entertained the fact that she was dating her teacher. She could see behind the usual professional mask and know more about the teacher than anyone else would ever dream. It was a thrilling thought, and when she sat in the back of the English instructor's classroom, she felt _special_ for once in her life.

"It's fine, dear. We have to face the harsh reality of it at some point." Her voice had now taken a solemn tone and the usual joyful spark in those whisky orbs had died.

"I wish we could live obliviously and not have to worry." Emma nibbled on her lower lip. The two of them had started moving toward the front door now and it wasn't until they had reached the Mercedes did Emma realize she had left her bag in the car. "But then that would mean that _everyone else_ would have to be blind, too."

"Indeed, it does, my dear." Regina sighed as she slid into the driver's seat of the vehicle. She then proceeded to fasten her seat belt and start up the Mercedes before pulling out of the driveway and onto the paved street.

"Do you regret it?" The blonde finally asked after a few moments of silence.

"Regret what?"

"Liking me," the blonde answered quietly. "I know it's been like, what, one day? Well, since we confessed to each other. But- What I mean is that do you regret liking me because you could be liking someone else that wouldn't be so off limits to you? You could be liking someone that you could go on real dates with to real places instead of having to hide? You could actually have a _chance_ if- I don't want to take your happiness away by forcing you to hide your feelings so the outside world wouldn't know about them."

"Emma, please," The brunette's words were nearly caught in her throat.

She didn't know where that came from. Emma seriously should never speak again. Her words were nothing but a lovely mix of verbal diarrhea and a foot that just would _not_ come out, no matter how hard she had willed it to leave.

"No," Regina finally said again, finding new strength in her voice. "I do not regret liking you. I will _never_ regret it. For the kindness and consideration that you have given me throughout these months and the patience that you have. _Everything_ that you've given me is special and I would not take back a single _moment_ , even if it meant that I would be able to have a public relationship." The older woman glanced over to Emma, tears in her dark eyes. "I don't care about the harsh details of what we have here. But what I _do_ know is that I will _never_ regret a single moment spent with you."

Now, Emma usually never got emotional – especially over such simple words – but here she was now with tears streaking down her cheeks. And it was right then, in that moment that Emma knew what love had felt like. It was quite strange to say that, and perhaps it wasn't a romantic love that she was feeling, but the feelings and emotions welling up inside of the blonde were just too much to handle.

It wasn't until they had pulled over at the side of the road in front of the Nolan's apartment building did Emma lean over and do that very thing that she so rarely expressed; she hugged Regina as tightly as she could, raw emotion falling at a rapid pace down her cheeks. When she felt arms take her petite form into them, a sob had wracked her body, sending it into minor convulsions.

"Oh, honey." She heard a soft whisper above her, but she was unable to talk.

Instead, Emma tilted her head up from the position on Regina's shoulder and moved to kiss the older woman. It was nothing but light and sweet, all but a mere form of gratitude. And, perhaps, it had been more, but Emma didn't want to travel down whatever path that was. Instead, she basked in the moment, enjoying the tiny sparks causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up and the way that Regina had so tenderly returned the kiss, her soft lips moving slowly against the blonde's pale ones as if she were trying to freeze time.

Emma knew that was something that she very well wanted. She didn't want to pull away, and she showed just that by clutching tighter onto the brunette's arms. But then she was shoved back, not forcefully, but enough to pierce the blonde's heart.

 _Did she not want this?_

Hurt and confused green eyes met with brown.

"I saw someone pull back the curtains in your apartment," she quickly explained, pointing to the window on the second floor of the apartment building. Emma followed the finger and squint, noticing the small silhouette of Mary Margaret. "You might want to go, dear."

And for the first time, Emma had noticed that the brunette teacher was breathless. Her words were airy and her chest was slightly heaving in the inky space of the car. The blonde nodded, dumbfounded for the sudden interruption. Everything had gone by so quickly and that kiss had left her dizzy, yet yearning for more.

"It's Mary Margaret. I have to go." The blonde teenager sighed softly and began to unlock the passenger's door. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yes." Regina nodded with a pleasant smile on her face. "Have a good night, Emma."

Emma paused with the door open, her feet planted on the ground as she twisted her body to look at the brunette. "You too, Regina. Goodnight." And with that, she got fully out of the car and closed the door, taking one last glance back before lightly jogging up to the entrance of the apartment building.

Emma heard the roar of the engine as Regina took off by the time the door had shut. It wasn't long before she was up the flight of stairs and turning to knock onto apartment number three's door. Soon enough, Mary Margaret was there with a smile on her face.

"Hey, Emma," she greeted, tugging the blonde inside. "You're cutting it quite close, weren't you?"

"Yeah. Sorry, I sort of lost track of time," she muttered, looking to her feet.

"Did you eat?"

"Yeah."

"So, where did you go?" The pixie-haired brunette probed, dragging Emma toward the couch.

"Somewhere."

"Who was that that dropped you off?" She pressed, tilting her head. "That didn't look like Ruby's car."

"That's because it wasn't." Emma hadn't exactly told Mary Margaret where she was going after school, and she had never asked. She more than likely assumed she was hanging out with either Belle or Ruby.

"Whose was it?" The brunette pressed, forcing the guilt to rapidly eat at Emma's gut. "Did you make a new friend?"

"No, Mary Margaret. You know I don't like people."

"Well, who was it, then? Was it-" Then she gasped and went wide-eyed. "Did you get a _boyfriend_?"

Emma grit her teeth and suppressed an eye roll. For some reason, her mother was ever persistent upon her getting a boyfriend. Of course, it was her default assumption seeing as to how Emma had never revealed her preference for girls, but she still wished Mary Margaret would lay off pressuring her about finding a _significant other_.

"No. If you must know, it was my tutor." And those words were out before she gained control of her mouth. _Tutor_? Well, she supposed that worked, seeing that Regina was her teacher after all. But, there was one problem and that was…

"But you have good grades?"

"Not in Government class." Emma found herself clarifying, and that was true, enough. "I needed help studying for tests."

"Oh. Who is tutoring you?"

"Ms. Mills," the blonde smoothly answered.

"Isn't she your English teacher?"

"Yes, but she's much better at it than Mr. Glass." Emma shrugged and offered a smile. So far, she _was_ telling the truth although around a white lie. White lie? It didn't hurt Mary Margaret any, really, that she wasn't _exactly_ tutoring with Ms. Mills.

"Oh…" The brunette looked thoughtful. "She must be very nice to help you with that."

"She is. No one else thinks so, though." The blonde wrinkled her nose and sighed softly. "Or at least they think that because her class is challenging to them."

"Why would that class be hard? Aren't you just writing in that class?"

"Pretty much, yeah. I mean, she teaches it pretty well, but I guess they don't like the way she grades assignments or how she, you know, actually does her job. People say no one gets good grades." Thinking back on it now from the beginning of the school year and how she had been warned the very same, Emma thought it was quite silly. She had _feared_ stepping into Ms. Mills' classroom, but she was certainly glad that she hadn't skipped that class, because by staying, she had discovered that that was the best thing that has ever happened to her.

"But you have an A in that class?"

"Exactly. The rumors must have just been started by a couple of students that didn't like her. I mean, I can see how they would want to hurt her reputation." Emma nibbled on her lower lip, going back to the previous day when the boys had been reprimanded by Ms. Mills, resulting in their repulsive insults.

"I suppose that's true. As a teacher, it's hard to get all of the children to like you because there's always that one bad apple." Mary Margaret eyed Emma suspiciously, but soon shrugged and smiled.

"Right." The blonde nodded, fiddling with the strap on her book bag.

"Are you going to see her again?" The brunette's question threw Emma off, for she whipped her head around and stared incredulously at her adoptive mother. It took a few heartbeats for her to register what Mary Margaret had asked and veer away from the lingering thoughts about their date, because surely the pixie-haired woman didn't know?

"Wh-what?" The blonde finally managed to stammer, green eyes blinking rapidly.

"Are you going to see-..." Then she cut the repeated question off, her mouth forming an O as she stared at her daughter's face. A hand slowly rose, hovering close to Emma's left cheek.

Then the blonde froze in her spot, trying not to react to the hand so close to her still tender flesh. The pain medication that Regina had given her wore off and her eye began to throb once again. It seemed to have gotten worse when her mother decided to hover her hand over the bruise with a finger lightly gracing over the discolored flesh.

"What happened, Emma?"

"I was really hoping that you wouldn't find out." The blonde sighed softly and turned her head away from the hand.

"You know that I would have found out eventually, right, Emma?"

"Yes. I know." Emma played with a blonde lock of hair, tugging on it anxiously. Now she really wanted to get away from Mary Margaret's soon-to-be interrogation. "I was just hoping to stall it. I didn't really want to worry you tonight."

"Why?" Mary Margaret furrowed her brows, her head slightly tilting. "Who hit you?" The brunette asked, leaning forward and giving Emma _that_ stare that she just could not return.

"That kid that I hit yesterday." Emma shrugged and finally returned eye contact with her adoptive mother. "They got payback after we got out of detention. No one was around."

"Did you tell Mr. Gold about this?" Emma quickly shook her head, eyes widening. "Why not? You should have so they could be properly punished."

"Maybe, but if I did, they'd only make my life a living hell. I know how it goes, Mary Margaret. You may have to use authority over people sometimes, but there's such a thing as too much before they start hitting back… and endlessly if you continue." Emma explained.

The pixie-haired brunette was nodding slowly, trying to process the information that Emma had given her. "But-"

"Don't. Just… don't. I'm not going to do _anything_ to piss them off any more than they are. They'll know if I told anyone- or at least a superior that could get them into trouble. They'll just come after me and this punch to the face was enough pain." She stood up, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. Mary Margaret watched her through narrowed eyes.

"I'm tired. I think I'm gonna go pass out for the night." Emma mumbled, running her fingers through her honey tendrils. "If you need me, wake me up."

"But you just got home?"

The blonde shrugged and proceeded to the stairs that led up to her room. "But I'm super exhausted and my face is killing me. Unless there's something you want me to do first?"

"No, no. There isn't." Mary Margaret frowned. "Goodnight, honey."

"'Night… mom." Emma offered her a warm smile before turning around to head back up the stairs, but not before the wide smile that broke out across Mary Margaret's face.

* * *

It was finally Friday, Emma thought as she entered Storybrooke High, and it was her birthday tomorrow. Her _eighteenth_ birthday. The blonde never thought the day would come. She had dreamed about it since she was a young girl, because that day would mean that she was an adult- legally, that was. That meant that she could get the hell away from any foster family that she would have been staying with at the time.

Shoving those thoughts aside for later, Emma took her seat next to Killian in Mr. Booth's class. She brought out her needed notebook and a mechanical pencil, tapping it to a beat that didn't exist. Class didn't start until another few minutes, so naturally, that meant he would start talking to her like he always did. And it was just her luck that he was going to continue pestering about the bruise by her left eye.

Even though it had been roughly three weeks since the incident happened, Emma had clammed up about it, and, being the ever-persistent Killian that he was, the teenaged boy continued to ask about it. The day after she had received the blow to the face, Mary Margaret had offered her up some of her makeup to cover up the bruise left behind. It had worked for the most part until she had forgotten one morning to apply the concealer, which had ultimately allowed Killian to see and thus, inquire.

"Why won't you tell me what happened?" His voice broke the silence in the room.

"Because I said it's none of your business." Emma mumbled her reply, making the tapping more furious.

Killian mock pouted. "Why? It can't be _that_ bad."

"Just drop it."

"Why?"

"Because I said so. Now just leave it alone."

"Fine." The brunet boy crossed his arms, but not before petulantly sticking his tongue out at the blonde.

"Oh, how mature." Emma rolled her eyes.

"I heard you beat a kid up." He smirked. "Is that who punched you?"

"Didn't I tell you to drop it? Besides, that was like, _weeks_ ago."

"Yeah, but I didn't know about it until Wednesday." He completely ignored her. "I didn't catch the full story, but I heard you popped him one on the jaw for talking shit about Ms. Mills."

"Where the hell did you even hear that from?"

"One of my friends, Will, is in that class. He told me."

"What exactly did he say?" Emma gritted her teeth. "Did he even know _why_?"

"I don't really think many people did. He said he sat in the front, but he saw you glaring over at Jefferson and Victor." _So that's what their names were_. "Then you screamed at them after Ms. Mills went back to her desk. He said you punched Jefferson after he said something when Ms. Mills tried to stop you."

"Oh," was all she replied, her mind a whirlwind of thoughts.

"Why'd you do it, anyways?" Killian asked, his head tilting.

"Why the hell do you want to know?" Emma snapped, dropping her pencil onto the paper.

"There must have been a good reason for it. I've heard people say _really_ cruel shit to you, but you just walk away. So, he must have done something to really piss you off and act like that."

"That's exactly what Belle had said, pretty much." Emma murmured, trying her best to avoid the question. "And I have a valid reason that I don't want to tell you. So… Like… fuck off or something and leave it alone."

"Fine. I'll just ask Jefferson or Victor. I'm sure they'll tell me."

"Go ahead. I don't care. They'll probably just lie or something anyways to make themselves look good." Emma shrugged nonchalantly, trying to keep her composure cool as she relaxed back into her seat.

" _Whatever_ ," he responded, which had earned an eye roll from the blonde.

It wasn't too long after did the bell ring and school start. The entirety of the first period class was rather quiet with a few notes and worktime for a piece of writing that they needed to get done. The blonde concentrated on her paper, ignoring the sideways glances from Killian. The period couldn't end fast enough for her, for she was out of there by the end of the bell and on her way to math.

Fourth period arrived shortly thereafter and had ended far too soon. When the class was over and everyone was filing out of the room like they always had. Emma stayed quietly in her seat, waiting for the last of the group to leave before bringing her chair over to her regular spot.

But much to her disdain, a student had stayed, and that student was none other than Victor Whale. He was talking with Ms. Mills, but Emma couldn't quite get what he was saying. The brunette's facial expression was blank, but the teenager's was an open book; there was still a flare of anger in his eyes and the lines in his face were creased with impatience as he spoke with the brunette teacher.

Regina handed the blond-haired boy a small stack of papers before seeing him out and heading over to her desk. Emma looked up at her, irritation clear on the brunette's features which had ultimately made the blonde angry.

"What was that about?"

"He was getting the missing assignments for Jefferson and himself." The teacher sighed and heavily sat in her chair. "I can tell that he still despises me."

"Hey, don't worry about him, Regina." Emma frowned, taking a chance as she reached out and gently took the brunette's hand in her own. She gave it a reassuring squeeze. "He's not worth the time or effort. If it weren't frowned upon, I'd say fail his ass."

"Oh, don't worry, dear. He's already doing that for himself." Regina softly muttered, gratefully returning the squeeze. There was soon a deep breath as she relaxed and let a smile float across her lips. "Thank you, Emma."

"It's really nothing." Emma tentatively reached up with her free hand and grazed a finger over the curve of her teacher's lips. In those three weeks, her confidence seemed to have grown. "Your smile is really beautiful; do you know that?"

Emma heard Regina inhale sharply, then suddenly she grabbed the blonde's wrist and held it above her mouth. She lightly pressed her lips against the soft skin, trailing them up to give the pad of Emma's fingers each a kiss. The blonde shivered, her teeth grinding almost painfully into her lower lip.

"I want to take you out."

"What?" Emma blinked at the brunette.

"I want to take you out," she repeated simply. "To Boston for your birthday. I want to buy you dinner and at a restaurant. Boston is the safest place."

"Dinner in… Boston?" The blonde's eyes widened, those words dizzying her. Regina wanted to take her on an actual _date_ to an actual _restaurant_?

"Yes. Tomorrow night. I mean- if you want to come and if you can."

"I-" Emma squeezed Regina's hand tightly, earning a faint noise from the brunette. "I'll have to- I'll have to check with Mary Margaret."

Her mind was scrambled with indeterminate thoughts and her mouth was just as bad. She felt as if she couldn't even form a coherent sentence. Was this really happening? The statement had Emma falling off Rainbow Road and straight into the black abyss below.

"Please, do. I'd- I'd really like to take you on a proper date and since it _is_ your eighteenth birthday…"

"That sounds so fucked up. I mean- With our ages- And I'm- And holy _fuck_."

 _Thank you very much, brain, for the vulgar amount of verbal diarrhea_.

Regina stared at her with big, brown eyes. "I'm sorry," she finally muttered.

"N-no, no… don't be. I'm just- holy crap, you're going to take me on a date. _To Boston_. That's, like, the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me. You're incredible and I could just kiss you." And so, she did.

Emma surged forward and planted one right on Regina's awaiting lips, bringing the brunette to a halt before she could say anything more. Even though she had been caught off guard, the brunette was already kissing Emma back, her fingers lacing with the blonde's.

Unfortunately, they both had realized where the hell they were and what exactly they were doing, for they quickly pulled away from each other with flushed cheeks.

"Sorry. I just couldn't help myself."

"It's quite alright, dear." The brunette breathed, the widest and whitest smile on her lips. Then she began to chuckle, and it was rich and melodic. Emma dubbed it as the sweetest sound that she had ever heard.

"What?"

"You've seemed to have donned a lovely shade of red on your lips, my dear."

"O-oh…" Emma blushed, her tongue subconsciously coming out to lick at her lips.

Regina couldn't help but to chuckle once again before handing over a tissue from her desk. "Here."

"Thanks," she mumbled and gratefully took the tissue to wipe up the borrowed lipstick. "So, uh, Regina?"

"Yes, Emma?" The brunette smiled.

"Ready to eat?" She smiled cutely and pulled out the paper bag from her backpack with her free hand, for the other one was still laced with Regina's. She didn't mind. Honestly, she quite enjoyed the feeling of the older woman's hand in her own.

"Please!" The brunette chimed, brown eyes watching as Emma pulled out two containers. She quickly passed one to Regina and kept the second for herself.

"I dunno what it is today. She never tells me." Emma muttered, mostly to herself, as she opened her to-go box, revealing a tinfoil wrapped something in there. She blinked and picked the food product, suspecting that it was grilled cheese. And she was proven right upon unwrapping the sandwich. "Mm, my favorite."

"You do quite enjoy grilled cheese sandwiches, don't you, dear?" Regina purred, taking a bite of her own already unwrapped sandwich. "They are delicious, but I much prefer pasta."

"Pasta?" Emma quirked a brow, hungrily wolfing down her meal. "You like pasta?"

"Yes. Is it a shame to like pasta?"

"I wouldn't think you would." The blonde teased, a sparkle in her emerald eyes.

"And why is that?"

"Don't they have a lot of carbs or something? Starch? All that unhealthy stuff?"

Regina stared at her. And then continued to do so without a word. That was, until she finally spoke one word, stretching it out by its vowels. " _Really_."

"What?"

"I am not some sort of health nut, Emma. I really, honestly do not give a damn what I eat."

That took Emma by surprise. But then again, the more she thought about it, it _did_ make sense. She hadn't seen the older woman eat anything particularly healthy besides those salads, which were long gone.

"Holy shit. You're my new hero."

"I'm your new… hero? Pardon?" Regina paused her motions to take another bite from the sandwich.

"You have _the_ perfect body and yet you eat _anything_ you want. I mean, yeah, I do that, too… But, seriously. I usually run, though." Emma nodded slowly before finishing off her grilled cheese with a large bite.

"I take jogs in the mornings and sometimes the evenings." The brunette shrugged. "Or walk around town for a while during the spring and summer. I do try to keep in shape, dear."

"You still look perfect." Emma grinned. "And your _ass_."

"Pardon?" The teacher's eyes widened.

"N-nothing. Went too far. Do _not_ mind me at all." Emma mumbled, shoving the ball-shaped tinfoil into her mouth.

"What the hell are you doing?"

" _Nuffin'_ " she mumbled around the ball in her mouth. "I jus' shoul'n'talk."

"You just complimented my ass, didn't you?"

" _Maybe_."

"Hm…" The brunette smirked. "Please do not feel inclined to write an entire story about my ass as you did about my lips, dear."

"Water yew talkn' 'bout?" Emma plucked the tinfoil from her mouth, a blush quite evident on her cheeks. "That could have been about _anyone._ "

"Tell me, who else has 'perfect, red and delicious lips that taste like apples and caramel coffee?'"

"Shut up… and that was only _one_ scene in that story. _It was a character_."

"Ah, so the blonde and the brunette aren't us?"

"Nope!"

 _They totally were_.

She really should have been far more careful when writing. Sure, she had turned this in today as an assignment and had written it after they kissed in the car, so it hadn't been like she was still crushing on her teacher and had turned it in dumbly as if she were trying to pretend it not to be them. She wasn't _that_ stupid.

"Whatever you say, dear." Regina's lips curled up slightly to reveal perfect, pearly white teeth. "I did quite enjoy your story, though, dear."

"Good. I wrote it for you." Then she winked and leaned back in her chair.

"You're sly, Emma, I must give you that." Playfully, the brunette tossed her crumpled up tinfoil at Emma. The blonde winced, hissing in a breath when a sharp pain radiated from her cheek.

" _Fuck!_ I'm sorry, Emma. I didn't mean to aim so high!" Regina looked absolutely panicked as she leaned forward, fretting over the invisible wound on Emma's cheek. "I didn't hurt you too bad, did I, dear?"

"I-I'm fine, Regina. Please don't worry about it." The blonde leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on her teacher's cheek. "It doesn't hurt. Okay?"

The brunette reluctantly nodded. "If you say so. I-I really didn't mean to-"

"Don't worry about it, Regina. Things happen." Emma closed her eyes and wrapped her free arm tightly around the older woman's small frame. "I still like you, and even more so now than ever. Throw away your dead horse beating stick."

"Emma…"

 _Bleeeeeep!_

"Stupid bell!" Emma cursed, glaring at the door. Of course, it had to interrupt them and of course these stupid classes had to end. There was just not enough time in one period – or lunch for that matter – to do anything.

"Sweetheart, you might want to get going." Regina straightened out, her fingers slowly unlacing themselves from Emma's. "I will see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah…" Emma frowned to herself, already missing the warmth of the brunette's hand. But she reluctantly stood and gathered her items to leave for her next class. "Please, have a good day and _don't_ worry about _anything_. You're still number one, yeah?" She grinned sheepishly at her last words. "And I'll let you know about tomorrow."

"You have my number still?" Regina's fingers ghosted over her own cell phone as dark eyes met with Emma's. "Text me or call me after school, alright?"

"Yeah." Emma nodded and offered her a grin. "I will. And I'll let you know."

"Thank you." The brunette beamed. "I'll talk to you later then, yes?"

"Yeah!"

"Have a good day, Emma."

"You, too, Regina!" And then Emma was out of there, floating down the halls on a cloud. Good gods, they were supposed to go on a _date_ tomorrow night – of course, if Mary Margaret would let her after making up a valid excuse.

Emma groaned with frustration, slamming the door to her government room against the wall as she entered. She needed to figure out what to do, but for now, she needed to clear her mind and focus on class. She was already nearly failing this class, so she couldn't necessarily afford to space out today.

Focus. Government. Politics.

 _Regina_. _Boston. Date._

This was going to be a long period.


	12. Another Shovel To Dig With

_This is so extremely boring. Why can't he find something for us to do? I'd really rather be scrubbing floors rather than sit here, twiddling my thumbs as those assholes watch me. Okay, well, maybe scrubbing the floors would be a bit too much- but at least_ something _was better than_ nothing _._

Emma growled her thoughts, echoing those words inside her head along with several profanities. It had been boring sitting in the same spot she was the previous day with absolutely nothing to do. Mr. Gold had said that they should catch up on homework as they wait, but naturally, Emma didn't have any. She usually sped through any class work _inside_ of class so she wouldn't have to bother taking any of it home. The other option was a book to read and, sure, that would have been no problem at all if the blonde hadn't finished the last pages in the first five minutes after her arrival.

Which had also reminded her, she needed to return the three books that she had borrowed from Regina and replace them with the next three books in the series.

She sighed and slumped down in her seat, her hands poking around in her kangaroo pocket for really no reason at all. Her fingers grazed over the sleek surface of her cell phone, then soon passed over the plastic of her mechanical pencil and ended up fumbling with a piece of paper.

 _Paper_?

Emma blinked and pulled that paper out of her pocket. It was a slightly crumpled up pass paper. She merely shrugged it off, believing that it was an old pass that a teacher never took, but upon further inspection, she had noticed that there was something written on it – and not the usual excuse words. It was a number.

It was Regina's number from when the brunette teacher had given it to her a couple weeks ago. For some reason, she had never thrown the scrap away. But, that _did_ give her an idea to pass the time.

Careful not to let anyone see, she quickly slipped the phone from her pocket and hid it slightly underneath the table. Jefferson and Victor were both too busy not doing what they were supposed to, so they never took notice. And Emma didn't want them to. They'd probably tell the principal who, at the moment, was in his office.

The blonde woke her phone and went straight to the contacts menu to find Regina's number, then selected the new message button.

 _Hey, I hope I'm not bothering you._

Emma quickly pressed send and stuffed her phone back into her pocket. As she waited for her phone to vibrate in response, she leaned back against the plastic chair once again and sighed. It was still rather boring sitting here, doing nothing. But at least she had something to look forward to now, as she waited for a response from her teacher.

She let her mind wander at the thought of the brunette woman and Boston. Emma had tried not to think about it all day, but whenever she wasn't occupied with work, her mind immediately went to that date they were supposed to have, and then her brain began to panic over the thought. Like, how was she going to come up with an adequate excuse to go to Boston when it was with her teacher – or so Mary Margaret would think – since Regina was her girlfriend?

There were many possibilities – most involved using one of her friends – for an excuse. Ruby would be working at the diner, or else Emma would have picked the brunette waitress. That would be a more excusable reason, seeing as to how she had her own car. But Mary Margaret frequented the diner often and usually had dates with David there, especially when Emma was staying the night with a friend. So, that meant Ruby was not going to be a liable cover for this weekend.

There was Belle, but she didn't have a car and everyone knew that her father wouldn't let the brunette teenager borrow his van and he sure as hell wouldn't take them to Boston. It would have been more plausible if Emma were to be going with _both_ of her friends, since Ruby had her car and Belle would be able to tag along.

With those facts on the table, that had ruled both of her friends out as a cover to go to the large city. Unfortunately, that left the blonde with very few options and her date with Regina was looking quite grim. How was she going to tell Regina that she could not come up with an excuse to go to Boston with her?

Then her phone buzzed inside her pocket and a smile immediately spread across her lips. Even when her thoughts were going into a downward spiral, any peep from the brunette just lifted her spirits. But then the thought of Regina and Boston sent a rock to the pit of her stomach.

 _ **Hello, dear! I'm sorry I was unable to reply right away; I was grading a few papers. You aren't bothering me any. I honestly need a break. Are you having fun in… Aren't you in detention?**_

 _Yes, I am. Shh… I'm a bad girl, I know. ;)_

Emma smirked and hit send. It wasn't long before she received a message back which had made an even larger smile break out on her face.

 _ **You sure are a naughty girl, aren't you? I suppose a lesson must be taught, yes?**_

 _You just might have to show me my wrongdoings._

 _ **Then you shall receive your punishment tomorrow night, Miss Swan.**_

Emma couldn't help but to gawk at the screen of her phone, the message never leaving the blonde's sight as she reread the words several times over. What the hell did that mean, exactly? Was she insinuating something _sexual?_ Emma really needed to find a solution to her problem because she sure as hell wasn't going to pass something like that up.

 _About that, I don't have an excuse to tell MM so I can go to Boston._

She bit her lip and hit send. She knew that she could have continued the little charade as they had before, but really, there would be no game if she didn't try to work this out with Regina first. It was something that needed to be done, especially considering that she might just be leaving in a little over twenty-four hours.

Perhaps Regina would be more level-headed and able to come up with a better solution than Emma had that wouldn't end in total failure. As she waited for the reply, Emma looked around the room for a moment. That's when she noticed Jefferson staring at her with narrowed eyes and an angry scowl. _Wonderful_.

Emma offered him a sneer in return before turning her body to check her phone after it had buzzed to life once again with another message from the brunette teacher. Oh, good gods, did she hope that he wasn't watching her right now under suspicion because she really couldn't afford getting her phone taken away.

 _ **Don't you have a friend that lives up in Boston? Graham, is it?**_

Upon reading that message, the blonde wanted to hit herself. She very nearly forgot about Graham _who lives in Boston_.

 _You. Are. A. Fucking. Genius._

Emma refrained from ditching detention to run down the hallways to Regina's room whilst screaming " _I love you!"_ at the top of her lungs.

 _ **Well, I certainly am flattered, dear. Thank you.**_

 _Don't thank me. You're the like the missing piece of my puzzle, because without you, my brain would be in shambles._

Emma grinned and chuckled at her cheesy line. Why the hell did she just say that? At least she hadn't gone the other route and made it much mushier: _… because without you, my life would not be complete_.

Her phone buzzed once again and she looked down, only to smile like an idiot at the device.

 _ **Without you, my dear adhesive, my heart would be in shambles.**_

It was simple, yet dealt layers of meaning that Emma was trying to comprehend.

 _Have I really helped mend your heart? I know you've helped me…_

Emma closed her eyes, her thumb hovering over the send button. Should she really send that? Should she risk whatever conversation that might ensue after sending such a message? Would their conversation become much deeper and serious than it had started? She decided to take the risk and hit _send_.

"Emma's got her phone out!" The blonde blinked and looked up to see Victor smirking at her as his friend stared into Mr. Gold's office after screaming that out.

"Shut the fuck up, you tattle tale." Emma snarled, shoving her phone into her pocket as Mr. Gold came out of his office, a brow quirked at the blonde trying to sit innocently in her spot. But, of course, that stare that he gave her made the teenager squirm in her seat.

"Is this true, Miss Nolan?" The short man limped over to her, his cane supporting his weight with each stride. "Did you have your cellular device out during your punishment? I hope you do know that is not a part of the rules, dearie."

"Yeah…" Emma chose not to lie, knowing that it would only make the situation far worse. "I had nothing else to do."

"You know that I must take that away from you." His hand extended, his brown eyes cold as he stared almost unseeing at the blonde.

"Sorry," she feebly mumbled, digging the phone out of her pocket, which so happened to vibrate with a new message from the brunette teacher.

She was relieved that she hadn't used Regina's name for the contact, instead she chose to go with a few smiley faces. It would remain anonymous if anyone were to happen upon her cell phone, even though Emma was usually quite adamant about keeping the device on her person. And she was cautious not to use Regina's name while texting her, because who would only know what would happen if the _principal_ scrolled through her messages and saw what she was writing?

"Thank you," he grumbled, taking the small device with eyes gracing over the lit-up screen. "You shall receive this back at four. Now, find something to occupy yourself with." And with that, he turned around to limp back to his office.

When Emma found her eyes sliding over to the boys, she held back an eyeroll. They were snickering to each other, of course. They were only petulant boys that got their entertainment out of something so _stupid_ , she reminded herself, deciding not to bother giving them the satisfaction.

The blonde turned her gaze to the clock above her table and sighed with disbelief. She still had a half hour. _Half an hour_ of doing absolutely _nothing_. And she knew that Regina had messaged her back with who knows what response. Oh, gods, she hoped that the brunette teacher wouldn't get mad at her for not being able to reply. Maybe she would still be there after detention was over with? She could go pay her favorite teacher a visit and apologize profusely for her own insolence.

Well, perhaps this would give her the time to think over her plan. She needed to find and practice her excuse to tell to Mary Margaret.

At least the time hadn't gone by as agonizingly slow as Emma had originally anticipated. Mr. Gold was out of his office in no time with Emma's cell phone in hand and a cane in the other.

"Alright, you are all free to go. Do have a good weekend." His words were a little too forced.

It wasn't long before the principal hobbled over to the blonde with her phone extended in his hand. But before Emma could grab it, he lifted the device out of her reach. "And you, Miss Nolan, I certainly do hope that you plan to keep all electronic devices at home or in your bag. Next time I catch wind of a certain blonde with a cell phone, I will not hesitate to confiscate it. Am I making myself clear?"

"Yes." The blonde nodded, receiving her phone when he had finally handed it to her. "I won't use it again."

"Good. Thank you." Mr. Gold's lips curled into an unpleasant smile before he turned to head back to the principal's office, but stopped halfway there and spoke in a bone chilling tone. "I do recommend that you leave your device on silent. The constant vibrations threw my concentration. Thank you."

Wait, her phone had been going off? And possibly more than once considering the man's agitation. Without a second thought, Emma checked her phone as she stood, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She had planned on quickly dropping by Ms. Mills' room in hopes to apologize for not responding to the message.

The first message was in reply to the one that Emma had sent just before the phone was confiscated, and that had made the blonde just _swoon_.

 _ **Yes, you have, my dear, more than you will ever know. I never thought that I would be able to feel this way for another person, but you have brought so much out of me, Emma Swan. You say I have helped you, as well? Do you feel the same?**_

It was quite sweet what she had said and it brought those bothersome tears to her eyes once more.

 _ **It's quite alright if you do not feel the same. I just… I had to get that off my chest.**_

_**I must apologize, Emma. Here I am rambling and you're in detention. I'll leave you to your own device and talk to you later.**_

The blonde had shoved her phone into her pocket without a response and chose to quickly guide her feet to the English teacher's classroom. She really wished that she hadn't been caught – or at least that Jefferson didn't snitch her out on it. Wasn't it enough payback by punching her?

Emma was by Regina's classroom in minutes, slightly panting from her haste. But much to her discontent, upon further inspection, she had noticed that Ms. Mills wasn't even in the room. It was completely dark inside and after trying the handle, Emma concluded that she wasn't enjoying the dark because the door was locked.

Emma sighed and pressed her back against the door as she pulled her phone from her pocket.

Would the brunette even respond to her? And would she if Emma were to call?

It was a chance that the blonde was willing to take, for she brought the cellular device up to her ear after dialing the older woman's number.

The other line immediately went to voicemail.

Emma frowned deeply at the sound of the automated system. Gods, did she hope that she hadn't screwed things up. What was she to do now? She really did need to communicate with the brunette, especially if there were to be something tomorrow. She hadn't spent an hour fretting over the subject just to let it go so quickly.

The only logical solution was to go to Regina's house. Sure, it was quite risky and not to mention odd, but she needed to and she remembered where it was. Pushing herself away from the door, Emma marched down the halls to leave the school.

It wasn't long before she found the sidewalk and began trace the path to Regina's house. Unfortunately, it was freezing and Emma was only wearing her hooded sweatshirt – which didn't necessarily protect her much from the bitter cold wind. She had been out here less than five minutes and she was already regretting the decision to walk.

The snow that seeped into Emma's shoes upon impact had chilled her already aching feet. Every part of her hurt from the frosty air the more she pressed forward. She would be lucky if she could speak upon her arrival, because she was sure that her entire body had turned into a human vibrator.

Emma could have wept when she saw the familiar manor come into view. She crossed one street and she was there, nearly sprinting to the door in relief. Snow flung itself around her feet as more matted into her blonde mane from the sky. She was about to _sob_ when she saw that familiar black Benz parked outside, looking all shiny and spectacular. That had meant that she was home and that Emma hadn't frozen her rump off for nothing.

Running as fast as her aching and frozen muscles could take her, Emma approached the door and knocked rapidly upon the white surface. Boy, did she hope that Regina would answer the door. Emma was about five seconds away from knocking it down and running into the fireplace to thaw out.

Then, the door tentatively inched open along with the appearance of Regina's face, a look of utter shock and surprise in those brown orbs as she saw the condition of the blonde on her front porch.

"Emma?" She whispered. "What are you- What are you doing here?"

"I-I… I c-came to ex-explain." The blonde managed to utter through chattering teeth.

It had only taken a few moments before Regina had realized Emma's state, and once she had, Emma was inside with her shoes and hoodie stripped, a pair of fuzzy socks on her feet and several thick blankets draped around her shoulders. The idea of Regina having a pair of such socks would have made Emma laugh if she wasn't too busy trying to fight hypothermia.

"Here's some hot cocoa, dear." The brunette teacher carefully handed over the black mug of steaming cocoa, a light smile on her face. "I had noticed that you ordered cinnamon with it at Granny's, so I took the liberty to add some for you. I hope you enjoy it."

"I-I will, very much. Th-thank you." Emma offered her a smile as she took the mug, nearly moaning at its warmth as it soaked into her hands. She quickly took a sip and closed her eyes. "That's good," she purred, enjoying the warmth spreading throughout her being.

"You're welcome, dear," the brunette whispered, occupying the spot next to her.

"Regina, I-I need to talk to you." Emma shivered, pulling the blankets tighter against her. Perhaps it wasn't such a wise idea to walk over here in probably zero below temperatures. "About the text that you sent me. I wasn't able to look at it because Mr. Gold took my phone. I tried to call you, but it went to voicemail, and I thought… I thought you were angry at me."

"No, sweetie. I'm not angry with you. My phone died shortly before I left the school." Regina frowned and wrapped her arms tightly around Emma; the new source of heat felt wonderful on the blonde's still shivering form.

"Oh," the blonde murmured, a soft smile on her lips at the reassurance. "Jefferson told him, or else I would have been able to tell you that- that I feel the same. I think I probably told you at some point, you know… I don't know what I say and what I don't anymore."

Emma leaned into Regina, blinking slightly when the brunette tried to lift her up. Obliging to whatever silent request, Emma lifted her bottom off the couch and moved to where the older woman was guiding her, which had her ending up on the brunette teacher's lap with arms coiled tightly around her waist. The blonde smiled warmly and wrapped one arm around Regina's neck while the other still held her mug on her legs, then lay her head on the brunette's shoulder.

"Do you know how sweet you are, Regina?" Her words were a near-whisper as the hand draped around Regina played with her raven locks.

"Oh, honey, really, now. There's no need." The brunette turned her gaze to lock in with Emma's, brown eyes were wide and filled with an emotion that squeezed the blonde's heart.

"Of course, there is, Regina. That meant a lot to me. And, honestly, I don't know how to handle it." Emma shrunk against the brunette's small frame, her grip slightly tightening as she watched the tears start to glisten in Regina's chestnut eyes. "I mean, I can't promise anything, really. I can't promise that I won't screw up. I can't promise that I won't hurt you. I can't promise _anything_ , but I hope that's not a turn-off for you, and if it is, I understand if you want to just turn away."

"Why on Earth would I want to do that, Emma?" Regina gently tucked a loose piece of hair behind Emma's ear, a watery smile on her full lips. "Oh, dear. I believe that I had said this before, and I shall state it again, I will _not_ give you up that easily. No one is perfect, darling, we all have our bad sides." She looked away, eyes focused on something across the room.

"I do, too," she croaked after a moment of silence. "Will _you_ back away?"

"No," was the blonde's immediate response. "I would never."

"I see," she said, and that was all she said for another extended period of silence. Emma watched as olive fingers played with blonde locks, twisting and twirling the strands around each digit. "About tomorrow, my dear, have you thought of an adequate excuse?"

"Yeah, I think so." The blonde shifted slightly on the older woman's lap, trying to be as carefully as possible so she wouldn't hurt her. "I was just gonna say Graham wanted to show me around Boston for my birthday."

"Oh?" Regina blinked, a slow grin spreading on her lips. "That sounds good."

"It's wrong." Emma muttered. "But anything's worth hanging out with you."

"If you believe so, my dear." The teenager smirked when she saw a light pink dusting the teacher's cheeks a pretty hue.

"Of course, Regina. I told you, my feelings are scary." Emma shrugged and dared to press a bold kiss to the older woman's cheek. "Besides, a real date would be nice. We've technically been dating for, like, three weeks."

" _You're_ the sweet one, Emma." Regina purred, tilting her head to return the kiss to the blonde's own cheek. But then her lips moved, trailing light pecks across the expanse of pale skin until they ended on the corner of Emma's mouth.

Emma, on the other hand, sat rigid on the brunette's lap. Her breath had become short as her heart seemed to skip a few beats when it sped up.

"I like you a lot, Emma." The brunette teacher breathlessly confided, her lips hovering mere inches above Emma's.

"I like you a lot, too, Regina," Emma softly replied.

Every thought dissipated when she felt soft lips press against her own.

Emma's eyes drifted shut as she let the world around her fade away and enjoyed the pleasant bumps breaking out over her skin. This woman could make Emma float on a cloud with just this simple, sweet kiss, and stir so much more inside of the blonde. Everything was _perfect_ with her, even when they had pulled apart when the kiss had come to a natural end; a _perfect_ end.

"Do you know how beautiful you are, Emma?" Regina smiled, licking her lips.

The blonde's eyebrows shot up to her hairline from the sudden compliment, but that didn't stop the blush that soon crept onto her pale cheeks. "You're really too sweet, Regina…"

"Sweetness has nothing to do with it. You deserve every wonderful compliment that I can give you." The brunette teacher's voice was a low hum as she tenderly ran her fingers through Emma's blonde locks. "Like how I love your hair. It reminds me of honey, for some reason. And it's soft and silky. I often find myself wanting to just bury my face in it."

"What?" Emma blinked. "You-"

"I'm sorry. Was that too much?"

"Not at all." The blonde shrugged and bit her lower lip, letting her fingers lightly graze across Regina's shoulder. "Just so long as I can tell you how much I love to touch you. Your skin, I mean. It's like velvet, you know? You must use some nice moisturizer, because _I_ often find myself fantasizing over touching your skin."

"My skin?" Regina couldn't stop the blush on her cheeks. "I _do_ use good moisturizer."

"I knew it." Emma chirped. "Promise I'm not Buffalo Bill."

The brunette chuckled softly. "At least it does not get the hose, again."

"I would never hose you," she said, earning another chuckle from her teacher before silence met the two.

"Hey, uh, Regina? I needed to ask you something. I know that it's kind of random." Emma shifted once again on the brunette woman's lap, her fingers anxiously playing with a stray lock of her hair.

"What is it, dear?"

"What did you- What did you want to do when we get to Boston? I mean, it would be kind of pointless to only go there for dinner so late at night, and especially when Mary Margaret would think I'd be visiting Graham. She'd probably think I'd at least stay the night or something. I mean, I'm not really trying to _say_ anything. I-I was just curious." She elaborated, this time letting her hand gently massage the older woman's shoulder before adding quietly. "And your text to me was a bit suggestive."

"Oh, right. You are correct, Emma." The brunette purred softly, rolling her shoulder after the blonde had stopped. "Perhaps we could rent a hotel room to stay in for the night and pick up brunch before we leave?"

"A hotel room?" Emma's eyes widened at the suggestion.

"Yes. I could get us one with two beds if you wish."

"Two?"

"If you are uncomfortable with sleeping in the same bed as me, I mean."

"O-one would be enough. I don't mind." Emma smiled shyly and, before Regina could see her face, she buried it in the older woman's hair. "Is it official, though? I would have to tell Mary Margaret about it."

"Yes. I can book a hotel room tonight." The brunette chuckled softly at the blonde's actions and playfully pinched her sides. "That is, if you feel inclined to come out of your hiding place before then."

"But I like it here," Emma mumbled against Regina's hair. "Your hair smells like apples. And it's soft." And to prove just that, she inhaled deeply and giggled.

"Well, I am certainly glad to hear that, dear." The older woman smiled softly and squeezed the blonde tighter against her. "But you do know that you'll come out of there soon. You must tell your mother some time, yes?"

"Nah, I think I'll just let her continue believing I'm straight." Emma did, though, moving away from Regina's hair to gaze down at the brunette with a mirthful smile.

The bewildered look on Regina's face made the blonde laugh, and boy, laugh she did. Emma had ended up falling off the brunette's lap and hit the floor with a thud, but that hadn't fazed her as she continued to guffaw in memory of the face that was given in response to her statement.

"Emma! Are you alright, darling?" Emma heard rustling from above her, but she didn't give it any mind. She was in _tears_ , unable to catch her breath. Why she thought it was so funny, she would never know. And the burning on her legs from the spilled hot chocolate went unnoticed.

That was, until Regina had pulled the blonde into a sitting position on the floor, in which amused green met with concerned brown. It had taken a few deep breaths and couple of suppressed giggles until Emma had finally calmed enough to realized where the hell she was and why the hell her legs felt as if they were on fire.

"Are you alright, Emma?" Regina repeated, her eyes wide and wild with worry. "You took a hard fall, and the cocoa didn't stay in the cup."

"That's because it's on my legs." Emma gestured to her jeans, which were dark with spilled hot cocoa. "My ass hurts a little bit, or else, I'm okay."

"Take your pants off."

"And here I thought you wanted to wait."

"Not like _that_." Regina quirked a brow and pushed herself up with the couch, which had her soon standing with an arm extended. "You need to get out of those since you've spilled sticky cocoa all over yourself."

"Am I gonna walk around in my underwear, then?" Emma smirked, taking the offered hand to stand up. "Because, you know, I don't wear those cute kinds or anything."

"I-"

"Sorry. I just, shouldn't open my mouth." The blonde muttered. She was really putting too much flirt into this conversation with her teacher, well girlfriend. It came way too easily to Emma when she spoke with Regina.

"It's fine, Emma." Regina offered her an amused smile. "I have a pair of pants that you may wear until yours are done washing."

"You're going to wash my pants?"

"You do still need to return home, don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Emma made a face of displeasure. "I wish I could stay here longer."

"But you cannot, my dear." The brunette gave her a look that said she wished Emma could stay as well. "Why don't you stay down here while I grab something for you to wear?"

"Alright, thank you," Emma mumbled with a smile as she watched the brunette teacher turn to leave the room.

This was happening, Emma thought as she tried to peel the material of her jeans away from her skin where the cocoa had spilled. Here she was, now pants-less, in Regina Mills' home. Never had she ever thought that would be a reality. Of course, the context didn't apply to where the rest of Emma's little fantasy would go. Everything about this situation was innocent, or so she thought. There was a possibility that Regina would come back wearing nothing but what she was born in, but of course, that was highly unlikely, no matter how much Emma wished that were to happen.

"There's a bath-... room..." The husky voice of the brunette teacher had Emma's attention to the door where Regina had entered with a pair of grey, silk pajama bottoms. But the way she paused halfway across the sitting room with wide eyes told Emma that she hadn't been expecting a pants-less blonde on her couch.

"Hi," Emma mewled sheepishly, the intense stare of the brunette had her shrinking against the couch and wishing to whatever higher deity that she was wearing pants.

"Your- You- _Here_." The brunette cleared her throat and tossed the bottoms over, in which Emma quickly slipped them on to sooth part of her embarrassment. The older woman's eyes were burning darker than before, which had alarmed Emma. Was this turning her on?

"Thanks," she mumbled, smoothing her hands over the sleek fabric, trying to forget that little fact. "They're really comfortable."

"That's why I purchase them, dear."

Emma nodded, smiling up at the brunette as she picked up the jeans strewn over the couch. She folded the jeans neatly and, once again, moved to exit the room. Even though she hadn't said anything about her departure, Emma guessed she was going to wash them. That had made the blonde feel guilty, considering that they were her own and the mess was also her responsibility. She figured the least she could do was help, and so she did.

Emma jumped up from her spot and picked up the forgotten mug from the floor before quickly following behind the English teacher to wherever she was headed. With the mug held close, she let her eyes wander around the scene of Regina's home, noticing all the lavish and expensive items that decorated it. It took all of Emma's will to not stop and just _gawk_ at _everything_ that she passed by. How nice would it be to live here?

"Emma?" The brunette suddenly paused her movements and turned to look at the teenager behind her.

"Yeah?" She queried, taking the few step distance between the two.

"What are you doing, dear?"

"Following you." When Regina turned around, Emma smiled innocently. "Is there a problem with that?"

"Of course not." A smile broke across the older woman's face and she reached out to gently take Emma's hand. "Want to take a trip to the laundry room?"

"That's what I planned." Emma replied stupidly. "I mean, that, I wanted to help. It would only be right if I were to. After all, they're my pants."

"You don't have to, honey. I can wash them." Regina shrugged and proceeded onward, dragging the blonde behind her. "Why don't you put that mug in the sink on our way, hm?"

Emma nodded as they crossed the foyer and went straight into the kitchen. She did as suggested and gently set the mug into the sink, but not after rinsing the rest of the contents out with a proud smirk. When she turned around, she was met with a quirked brow and pursed lips.

"Are you done?"

"I just don't feel right about making you clean up after me, is all," Emma said quietly, once again following behind Regina as the two made their way out of the kitchen and down a hall. The brunette opened the closest door, which had revealed a small room with a washer and dryer, as well as a small basket of clothes.

"Sweetheart, my home is your home, I want you to know that. But I do like to- I like to take care of people. Especially someone that I care greatly for." The brunette gave her a small smile before turning to toss the jeans into the washer. "Do you mind if I throw my own clothes in there as well? I know how finnicky people can feel about mixed laundry."

"I'm fine with it." Emma kept her eyes glued to the brunette as she then proceeded to neatly put each article of her own clothing into the washer. The blonde blushed when she saw several pairs of panties enter the machine that held her jeans.

"Are you alright, dear?" Regina smirked after setting the washer up to start and turned her body to face the blonde once again. "Are you embarrassed over something?"

"I-I don't want to… invade anything…"

"Trust me, you aren't. I wouldn't show my undergarments to just _anybody_." She purred, taking a few steps closer to the blonde. A soft, olive hand gently caressed Emma's cheek, resulting in a soft mewl. Her eyes closed as she nuzzled closer to the hand, quite enjoying the warmth and small jolts of electricity coursing underneath the touch. Emma's breath caught in her throat as one of Regina's fingers grazed tentatively over her lower lip.

"Am I considered one of the lucky bodies?" Green eyes opened, an innocent look on her face.

"Yes," Regina answered, her voice taking a huskier tone. "And you're the only one that has the privilege to have their clothes mixed with them."

"I'm one lucky bitch, aren't I?" The blonde breathlessly inquired, pale fingers wrapping around the older woman's delicate wrist. "Because I certainly feel like it."

"I suppose you are, Emma. As am I." Arms soon engulfed Emma and her senses were filled with the scent of Regina's spicy perfume. The blonde couldn't help but to grin like an idiot and probably hug the teacher back a little too tightly, or so the small squeak the came from Regina told her so.

"Sorry… 'gina…" Emma mumbled with her face buried in Regina's neck and hair. The scent of apples was her new favorite thing, and she had the lovely Ms. Mills to thank for that.

"Gina?" Regina's voice was muffled, for her own face was hidden away in blonde curls.

"I meant Regina." She quickly mended.

"Oh…" She sounded slightly disappointed.

"Do you want me to… to call you Gina?" Emma asked tentatively. "I really wouldn't mind and it can be our thing."

"No one has ever called me that before. Well… I wouldn't let them if they had." Regina bit her lip and moved away from the blonde curls to stare into emerald eyes. "But I like it coming from you."

"That settles it then?"

"I suppose it does, dear." The brunette smiled and leaned forward to press a quick kiss to Emma's lips, which had ultimately left her breathless.

"Gina. It suits you… well…" She couldn't help but let out an elated giggle. "When you look like that, it does."

"What do you mean? What do I look like?" Her eyes were wide and disbelieving.

"When you look at me with those big, brown eyes and they're just so sparkly. And your smile… looks so natural. You look, dare I say, _adorable_. Gina is adorable." The blonde offered her most innocent smile that she could to the brunette, because she knew for a fact that Regina didn't like to be called adorable, considering that she didn't take too well the last time Emma had called her that very word.

"Gina is adorable, huh?" The brunette woman quirked her brow. "I think I would like to disagree."

"Nope. Gina is adorable and that is that." Emma nodded simply, squeezing Regina even tighter. Oh, good gods, did she hope that she wouldn't break the poor woman in half.

"You know, my dear Emma, I won't always be adorable."

"Yeah, because you're pretty damn sexy, too. I know for a- I-I mean-" Emma blushed vividly and chose to hide her florid face in fluffy brunette locks.

"I am not responding to that." Regina's voice sounded as if she were completely thrown off and Emma wouldn't doubt that she would because even the blonde, herself, was surprised by the sudden comment that flew from her lips.

"I don't really expect you to. I am really, like _really_ sorry. about my mouth." Emma mumbled against the older woman's neck. "I just- I really don't know how to stop."

"Don't worry, dear," the teacher whispered softly, pressing a kiss to the top of the blonde's head, "I don't either."

"You have a problem with verbal diarrhea, too? Man, we really need to find a doctor who specializes in fixing that." Emma chuckled softly, pulling slightly away from the brunette to give her a wry smile.

"Why don't we make some popcorn and go watch a movie while we wait for the clothes to be finished?" Regina merely shook her head, lightly batting the blonde's arm before pulling fully away from the younger woman.

"Sounds like a plan." The blonde smirked at the older woman's actions, continuing to chuckle.

Both women headed to the sitting room and picked out one of the lighthearted romantic comedies, much to Emma's initial displeasure. Regina had reassured her that she would like it and should at least watch it before knocking it. They cuddled up under the blankets as they watched the film, with Regina holding Emma in her arms as the blonde pretended not to be interested in such a 'lame' movie, although she was thoroughly intrigued by it.

By the end of the movie, Emma was yearning to watch another of the silly rom-coms, but Regina had pointed out that the clothes must have been dry by now and it was getting late. And by getting late, that meant that Emma needed to head home before Mary Margaret had a fit of not knowing where she was. So, with that, the two quickly made their way to the launder room where Emma retrieved her pants and donned them.

Soon enough, Regina and Emma were out of the house and on their way to the blonde's apartment. The trip there was sat in companionable silence as the music on the radio sprang through the speakers.

It wasn't long, or so Emma thought, until they arrived outside the apartment. It always felt that the ride home was always too short.

"Until tomorrow, dear?" Regina turned to face the blonde, an elated smile on her face. "I'll pick you up around seven, if your mother allows you to go."

"She probably will." Emma shrugged. "But I'll text you when I get an answer, okay?"

"Alright," she said softly.

"Goodnight, Gina." Emma smiled shyly, looking at Regina through her lashes.

"Goodnight, Emma." The brunette's smile radiated, brightening up her entire face and, oh, did it make her look so _breathtaking_. Emma's face just lit up as well, the smile contagious, and their eyes met in a heated stare.

She found herself leaning forward, an invisible force drawing her near the brunette, and it had seemed the same for Regina. That was, until Emma's phone rang to life with a speedy tune, indicating a call from her mother.

Regina jumped nearly ten feet in the air from the interruption and Emma the same. She cursed under her breath, pulling the device out to answer the call.

"Hello?" She greeted, trying her best to keep the agitation at bay.

" _Emma? Where are you?"_

"I'm outside. I'll be coming in a moment. Alright?"

" _Alrighty, then. Make it quick. Goodbye_."

"Bye." The blonde huffed and ended the call. She quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door, but before she stepped out of the car, she turned to look at what appeared to be a shell-shocked Regina.

"You alright?"

"Wh- yeah." The brunette offered her a smile. "Goodnight, honey."

"Goodnight, Gina." Emma leaned forward and kissed her cheek before hoisting herself out, slamming the door behind her.

 _Gods_ , did Mary Margaret sometimes make her angry. She always had to call at the most inopportune of times. Sighing with irritation, she made haste to get upstairs and enter the already unlocked apartment to be met with Mary Margaret staring at her.

"Where have you been, Emma?"

"I had a tutoring session with Ms. Mills again. I'm sorry. I thought I told you." Emma ran her fingers through her hair. "I would have told you, but I thought it would be rude to use my phone."

"You really need to tell me when you tutor, Emma." Mary Margaret sighed, extending a hand to tuck a piece of hair behind Emma's ear. "Alright, hon?"

"Yes. I'm sorry. I will, okay? I'll try to when I know she's free."

"Thank you." The brunette woman smiled softly. "Have you eaten?"

"No." She shook her head.

"Well, dinner's in the oven if you're hungry," Mary Margaret said. "It should be done soon." And with that, she started to walk towards the kitchen with Emma trailing behind. "Your father should be home soon."

"Mary Margaret?" Emma set her bag on one of the stools as she leaned against the island counter. "I have to ask you something."

"What is it, Emma?" Emma's mother asked as she inspected what was in the over.

"Tomorrow's my birthday, right?"

" _Right_."

"Well, I was wondering if I could go with Graham to Boston." Emma looked away from Mary Margaret's back, suddenly feeling terrible about lying to the woman's face. The words coming out of her mouth didn't even feel like her own. "He, uh, he asked me. He wanted to show me around Boston as a birthday present and take me to a few places up there since I'll be moving there after graduation."

"How do you plan on getting there?"

"He bought a car and he's gonna come pick me up."

"When would that be?" The brunette school teacher walked over to the island and leaned against it as well, her eyes on the blonde.

"Around seven."

"So late?"

"I don't think he gets off work until later and it's a long trip here." Emma shrugged. "And since he'd be coming so late, I thought I can crash at his place for the night and we'd get up Sunday so he could finish showing me around."

"Wait, you'd be staying the night over at his place?" Mary Margaret looked skeptical at this fact and Emma swore she was going to finally say 'no' to her.

"We're just friends, Mary Margaret. We won't do anything. I think he has a girlfriend, anyways, and there's two rooms in that apartment he has. Remember that we planned on moving in together?" She certainly hoped that this would work and that her mother would say yes, or they were screwed out of a date.

" _Emma_ …"

"Please, Mary Margaret." Emma did what she rarely ever did; she pleaded. "I promise I'll call you if anything goes wrong. And, if you want, I can check in periodically."

"You really want to go that bad, huh?"

Emma nodded and offered her a smile that she hoped looked too optimistic to pass up. "And we can still celebrate my birthday here since he won't be in until late."

Mary Margaret stared at the blonde teenager in front of her, as if contemplating on her answer. Emma could even see the gears inside her head working together to formulate the response.

Then, she finally said it, "Fine."

"Really?" The blonde hopped up from her seat and threw her arms around her mother. "Oh, thank you! You don't know how much this means to me. You really don't!" She squealed.

Mary Margaret chuckled and hugged the blonde back. "Now, don't get into trouble, okay? I don't want to have to go up to Boston at some strange time at night to bail you out."

"I won't! I promise! You _won't_ regret this!" Emma giggled with excitement. "I have to tell him!"

Then Emma hopped out of the kitchen with her backpack and headed upstairs to her room where she just could not stop bouncing about. She pulled her phone from her pocket and quickly searched for Regina's "name" to message her the answer. She could barely type up the message for her hands were shaking too much because Mary Margaret said _yes_.

 _Guess what, Gina? We're going on a date in Boston!_


	13. Another Year Older and Two Fingers More

_**She said yes?**_

 _Yes! And she also okayed the whole staying overnight there._

 _ **Fantastic! But, dear, I have changed the plans up some. We shall be leaving after four, if that is okay? The restaurant we will be going to close at midnight, and it would be about that time when we would finally arrive.**_

 _That sounds even better. At least we won't be eating at an ungodly hour._

 _ **That, and they're playing a show at the Paramount at about nine. I was hoping I could take you there.**_

 _What? I've never been to a show before._

 _ **Then I shall do the honors and take you to your first show, my dear. And there's quite a lovely restaurant next to it, well, the one I planned on taking you to. We wouldn't have to go far nor be late. Do dress suitably, that means you must wear something formal.**_

 _Holy shit, Gina. I feel like I'm getting spoiled._

 _ **Wait until you see the hotel suite I plan on renting, dear.**_

 _Hotel… suite?! I don't want you to spend too much on me with all this fancy stuff._

 _ **Don't worry about it, Emma dear. I have more than enough funds to pay for this. After all, what am I going to do with my wealth? I have nothing worth spending it on besides you.**_

 _You're really super sweet, Gina…_

 _ **Also, I've got another surprise for you.**_

 _You do?_

 _ **Yes.**_

 _What is it?_

 _ **It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, now would it?**_

 _No, I suppose not._

 _ **Oh, Emma, I have a question to ask you.**_

 _What is it?_

 _ **Will you be telling Graham about this since he's your cover? After all, he will be coming down shortly, will he not? You don't want questions to arise, because I am quite sure both parties will be thoroughly confused when your mother asks Graham of his time with you in Boston.**_

 _I suppose you're right… I didn't think of that. I'll text him when we're done talking._

 _ **Why don't you do it now, dear? I ought to see to it that the hotel reservation is intact. I shall talk to you later.**_

 _Okay. I'll talk to you later. Bye-bye, Gina._

 _ **Goodbye, sweetheart.**_

Emma sighed and sat up from her spot on the bed. Mary Margaret had been calling her downstairs for dinner several times and, this time, with warning. She hadn't expected her conversation with Regina to be so long.

"Emma! Don't make me come up there!" Her mother's voice rang from downstairs.

"Hold on a minute! I'm trying to clear things up with Graham!" She huffed and did just that, clicking through her phone to find her friend's name.

 _Hey, I need you to do me a favor. Can you cover for me? I'm going to Boston and I told Mary Margaret it was to see you. It's only for tomorrow night._

Hitting send, she had hoped that that would suffice. The blonde would be screwed if he didn't agree to help her. With a sigh, Emma picked herself up off the bed, cell phone in hand, and made her way downstairs to her awaiting parents.

"And look at who finally joins us." She heard David rumble in front of an empty plate. "What were you doing up there?"

"I was talking to Graham about tomorrow." Emma quietly replied, inching her way over to her spot at the table where a pile of fettucine sit on a plate. "And, Mary Margaret?"

"Yes, Emma?" The pixie-haired brunette focused her attention to the blonde.

"He's going to be coming at four, if that's okay? He thought seven was a little too late since it's a four-hour drive there." Emma explained, picking her phone up from where she sat it on the table to check the message after it had buzzed. Graham had texted her back.

 _ **What the hell are you going to Boston for?**_ _**I'll only cover for you if you tell me**_.

The blonde scrunched her nose at the phone, sending daggers to the screen.

"Is something wrong, dear?"

"Oh, no. It's just Graham. He's just wondering what I'm doing." She shrugged and quickly typed a message back.

 _I'll tell you if you promise not to tell anyone. And I mean it. Don't tell anyone, not even Belle or Ruby._

"Well, tell him that you're eating dinner so you can put your phone away." David grunted, quirking a brow. "You know how your mother doesn't like technology at the table."

"I know. I'll tell him." Emma stabbed her pasta with her fork.

"That means _now_."

"I'm waiting for his reply." The blonde gritted her teeth.

"Didn't you talk to him enough?"

"David, please." Mary Margaret gently touched her husband's hand. "Just let her say what needs to be said. Tomorrow's going to be a big day for her."

"Fine." The man grumbled before serving himself another helping of the fettucine.

"Thank you," Emma mumbled, checking her phone as another message alert sounded.

 _ **I won't. I promise.**_

 _I'm going on a date._

 _ **Really? You got yourself a girlfriend you don't want your parents knowing about? Tell me who it is and why I have to cover for them- then I'll cover for you.**_

That was quick.

"Oh my gods." Emma rolled her eyes at his persistence. It was just like him to try and drag everything out of the blonde. She should have known that it wasn't safe to ask him something so vaguely without questioning.

"What is it, Emma?"

"It's just Graham being a nosy little ass like he always is."

" _Language_ ," the brunette reprimanded with a quirked brow.

"Sorry," Emma mumbled, her fingers flying away at the digital keyboard.

 _Are you serious? Ugh. I don't want you to tell anyone… Promise? Don't say anything. And you know what I mean._

 _ **Fine. I promise. Now spill!**_

"Are you going to put that thing away yet?"

" _David_."

"In a minute," Emma mumbled. "I gotta send this and then I'll tell him I'm eating. He won't be able to wait. _Although_."

"Honey, finish what you need to quickly so you can eat." David calmly suggested, his eyes no doubt trying to peek at the blonde's phone.

"Yeah. I will." With a roll of her eyes she replied with two words.

 _Regina Mills._

And then her cell phone started to ring, earning her dirty looks from both her parents.

"Now he's calling. Can- Can I take this?" Although, she was quite afraid to take the call. No doubt Graham would be screaming his head off at her.

"Yeah, just be quick about it, dear." Mary Margaret nodded, even though David was shaking his head.

"Thanks." Emma quickly hit the answer button and was immediately greeted with a boisterous voice that had her jump in her spot with wide eyes.

" _NO FUCKING WAY, EMMA! YOU'RE DATING MS. MILLS? WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"_

"Pipe the hell down, Graham. Blow my eardrums out, why don't you? I'm at the dinner table." She gave a wry look to the space before her. "And… _yes_ , I am. I told you not to say anything."

" _But you're dating the Evil Queen. How the hell did you land her? She's, like, your teacher, isn't she?"_

"Yeah, but-" Emma rolled her eyes and stood up from the table. "Just give me a moment."

" _Why? I want details._ Now _. After all, you're using me to cover for her."_

"I'm at the _dinner table_ if you didn't first hear me." She quickly made her way back upstairs to her bedroom, abandoning her spot at the table along with both parents who were shooting her curious gazes. "Now, first off, don't call her that."

" _Right. Sorry. I'm just…_ wow _._ "

"And she liked me back, surprisingly. But that's not important. What's important is, will you cover for me?"

" _If you visit me, hell yeah I will."_

"Graham, you're jerking my wiener here. But, I'll ask her if we can stop by tomorrow before we leave."

" _When the hell are you coming?"_

"We're leaving here at about four. So, we'll be in around eight. But we're watching a show at the Paramount and eating at that restaurant by it, I think."

" _Oh, you're eating at Salvatore's? That place is fancy."_

"Yeah, well, shut up. So, tell me where you're at and I'll see if we can stop by on Sunday. It'll probably be early."

" _Wait. Sunday? And you're-_ Ooh _. Are you staying overnight?"_

"Yes, and let's leave it at that."

" _You and-"_

"Graham. Please."

" _Fine. And yeah, I'll cover for you._ " He then proceeded to tell Emma where he was currently residing.

"Thanks."

" _I'll be expecting you. Both. Of. You."_

"Yeah. Oh, and Graham?"

" _Yeah?_ "

"Don't tell anyone. No one knows."

" _My lips are sealed, Em._ "

"Thanks. Uh, I gotta get going. I'm supposed to be eating and my parents are probably fuming."

" _Alright. Talk to you later and see you on Sunday._ "

"Yup. See you."

" _Bye._ "

* * *

" _Happy birthday, Emma!_ " A collective cheer rang through the otherwise quiet diner of Granny's. The blonde smiled sheepishly, still not used to the attention she was receiving from the rather large crowd. She felt as if she were in a spotlight, especially when they all started to sing that stupid _Happy Birthday_ song to her as she stood there awkwardly until they finished.

"Thank you," she squeaked and blew the eighteen candles poking out of the large sheet cake. She hadn't expected _this_ for her birthday. Her friends, Ruby and Belle were here along with a few classmates including Killian, Ruby's grandmother, Belle's father, her own parents, and a few others. This party set up for her had been the largest she had ever had – and that was mostly because she only celebrated with Mary Margaret, David, and her three best friends.

It was to her surprise when Mary Margaret, David, and herself walked into the diner around noon for their usual special lunch when, without any sort of warning, she was berated with a collective " _Surprise!_ " Then all had proceeded to eat from a small buffet that Ruby and her grandmother had made – which ultimately was their gift to Emma since she absolutely loved food and free refills of cinnamon hot cocoa.

That was two hours ago, and now Emma sat surrounded by gifts with awaiting eyes on her. Giving a sheepish smile, the blonde stabbed her fork into the middle of the cake and received the first box given to her by Mary Margaret. It was flat, like a box that clothes were usually wrapped in. The box, though, seemed heavier than any regular pair of pants or shirt that the brunette woman bought her.

"Go on, open it!" Her mother grinned with excited eyes.

"Okay…" And the blonde did just that, ripping the beautifully wrapped paper off the box with a smile as wide as the brunette's. She threw the box's top to the side and gasped when she saw red.

"Oh, my gods, Mary Margaret! I love it! I- thank you!" She pulled out the object that had her squealing like an idiot, which so happened to be a red, leather jacket.

"So, I take it you like it?"

"Yes!" Emma beamed and shrugged it on, the smile only growing wider. She then turned her body to hug the brunette woman sitting next to her. "I love it!"

"I knew you would. You were hinting at me to buy it for you when you saw it." She chuckled and returned the hug. "You look beautiful in it."

Emma blushed, just as bright as her new jacket, and stuffed a forkful of frosting laden cake into her mouth.

"Yeah, but I beat that won't beat what I got her." David held up a large, rectangular box, a smug smile on his face.

"Nothing will compare, David." Mary Margaret crossed her arms, a confident look on her visage.

"Just wait and see." He smirked in response.

Emma quirked a brow and took the gift that he had handed her. It was heavy, much more so than the jacket. What the hell was in here and what could positively be better than the red leather jacket?

" _Holy shit!_ " she squealed when she had finally opened the packaging.

"Language, Emma," Mary Margaret sighed, looking defeated as her eyes roamed over the brown, leather boots that lay in the box.

"Holy _crap!_ " Emma mended, taking one of the footwear items out. "It's perfect! Thank you, thank you, thank you, so much!" The blonde turned to her other side to give her father a tight hug. "How did you know?"

"I saw you gawking at them when we went to get you new shoes for this year." David grinned, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. "I figured why not be a good father and actually get you what you want for your eighteenth birthday."

"Thank you so much, David." The blonde giggled. "I'm totally wearing both of these tonight! I hope it'll look nice with the outfit that I'll be wearing."

"When do you have to go back again, dear? It's almost two-thirty now." Mary Margaret had looked back to Emma after checking the time, her lips forming a slightly sad smile. "And don't you still have to pack? You sort of just passed out after watching the movie with us."

"Yeah, I do. We should probably head back when we're done. I still have to get ready, too."

The two of them nodded, Mary Margaret still looking sullen which had Emma feeling horrible for leaving her – even if it were for just one day.

With guilt weighing her down, and a heavy smile, she took the next gift that David had handed her and opened it. There was a CD beneath the wrapping, one that of her favorite musical artist – and one that she hoped Regina enjoyed when she had her listen to a song during their lunch. Perhaps she'd allow her to play the CD on their way to Boston later.

"You don't have that one, do you?" He asked, frowning slightly at her expressionless face. Emma looked up and beamed, shaking her head in response.

"Nope! Thank you, David! This is _perfect_." She set it aside when Mary Margaret had given her another wrapped gift which, if Emma guessed correctly, would be another compact disc. Regina and Emma were going to have some fine tunes to listen to on the way to the big city.

With the smile still stretched across her face, she opened Mary Margaret's gift to reveal that it was, indeed, another CD. This time, it was another one of her favorite artists.

"I hope you don't have that one, Emma. I think that it was the new album that you mentioned was out." Mary Margaret reached over to gently touch the blonde's wrist.

"No, it's perfect. Thank you, Mary Margaret!" She grinned widely and stacked her two new CDs on top of one another.

"Why do you still get CDs? Those things are like… so old." Ruby's voice muttered next to the blonde, one of her brows quirked when Emma turned to glare at her.

"I get them because I like to have physical copies of things. And if I have a car that takes CDs, and not tapes, I can play them. Or put them on my laptop, so I don't have to search up every goddamn song on the internet that I want." She explained calmly, eyes still shooting daggers at her friend.

"Alright, jeez. Sorry. I didn't realize you still lived in the stone age." Ruby offered her a playful smirk.

"Here, I got you something." The brunette waitress smirked and handed her a long, flat box. "You know, since the dance is coming up in a couple weeks and I'm sure you don't- I mean. Open it."

"You got me a dress, didn't you?" Emma quirked a brow as she tore the wrapping away, then quickly flipped the lid off to reveal black. And black was all she saw until she picked up the delicate material, which reflected some of the light in a soft sheen. "Satin?"

"Yeah, dude! I got it for me, actually, but I didn't really think _black_ was a good color on me, you know? I prefer red and white. I figured you needed a dress in your closet, you know, if you ever go out on a date or anything. It's not _really_ school appropriate, but with some jackets and leggings or socks or something, it'll work." Ruby gave her a cheeky grin before squeezing into the spot between David and the blonde.

"I'll try it on later."

"You better take pictures." She wore a wolfish grin on her face. "I wanna see how _hot_ you'll look in that."

"Yeah." Emma bit her lip and tried to suppress the smile she could feel threatening to break across her face. Maybe she could wear this instead of the pantsuit outfit she had planned. But the problem was, she couldn't wear it out of the house. Mary Margaret and David would surely freak if they caught her in this. Hopefully Regina planned on stopping by the hotel first.

"Are you trying not to… _smile?_ " Ruby chuckled and nudged Emma which had caused the restrains on the smile to break, and the blonde just _beamed_ from her thoughts.

"Thank you, Ruby. I'm sure it'll come to some use."

"It better, I didn't pay a hundred bucks for that thing."

"What the fuck." Emma blinked. "How the hell did- did _this_ cost a hundred bucks?" she squawked, holding up the thin piece of fabric.

"It was probably more than that, I dunno. And, Em, dresses are fucking expensive, and lemme tell you, I was pissed when they wouldn't take that damn thing back." Ruby snorted and glowered at the dress in Emma's hands with disdain. "So, you better enjoy it."

"I will, Ruby." Emma rolled her eyes and carefully placed the dress back into the box. "And I'll get you pictures when I get home; but don't share 'em with anybody or I'll find some way to kill you."

"I won't."

"Except for me, you mean?" Belle butted in, squirming between Mary Margaret and Emma with a big grin and a small, rectangular package. "I want to see you in a dress."

"Oh, my gods, guys." The blonde's cheeks burned brightly as some of the other guests looked toward them. "Fine. I will. Just shut up about it."

"Yay! Now open up my present!" Belle grinned, shoving the neatly wrapped package into the blonde's arms. "I bet you'll love it."

"Depends on what it is," Emma mumbled, mercilessly ripping the paper off and throwing it at both her friends. Then she looked down at the object left behind, which was a book. A very familiar book. It was that same one that brought her to her very first library so many years ago.

"Do you like it? I remember when you told me this is the first large book that you've read and it meant a lot to you. I searched online for a good copy and finally stumbled on a site that had super old copies of books in perfect condition. Let me tell you, they cost about an arm and a leg, but it was totally worth it." Belle beamed at a misty-eyed Emma.

The blonde quickly wrapped her arms tightly around the small brunette and chuckled with elation. "Oh, gods, Belle. Thank you so much! Holy crap, I've been looking for this for a while now. I couldn't find a good copy."

"It's no problem. It's your eighteenth, Em. It's a milestone in your life and you deserve the best of gifts."

"I love you, both of you." Emma couldn't help but to laugh again, this time pulling them both into her arms. "You're so amazing, even if one of you gave me a dress."

"You know you secretly like it, Emma." Ruby smirked.

"No comment." The blonde chuckled, setting the book next to her other birthday gifts. "But I appreciate it, especially since it was apparently so goddamn expensive."

"Yeah, you better appreciate it, bitch." The waitress giggled and playfully nudged her friend. "But, hey, no problem. I'm sure you'll get me something equally as awesome, huh?"

"You'll just have to wait and see. I've got plans for both of your upcoming birthdays."

"I want something _expensive._ "

"I'm just happy with books." Belle commented, shooting her brunette friend a quick eyebrow raise.

"I'll be sure to save up for your expensive tastes." She grinned wryly.

"Unless you blow whatever in _Boston_." Ruby sneered and crossed her arms.

"What?"

"Why didn't you tell us you were going down there today?"

"Because it's none of your business?"

"Didn't her mother say that Graham was coming to pick her up?" Belle's soft voice chirped.

"I thought he was coming down in two weeks to spend time with us?"

"He is. I just-"

"Hey, Emma! I got you something, too." A masculine voice sounded before the three friends and Emma slumped in her spot. Oh, _great_ , here comes Killian. Perhaps he won't take it upon himself to be annoying as usual. At least she was saved for now from having to talk about why she was leaving later.

"You did?" She blinked and stared at the hand that had extended toward her. Her green eyes slid up to meet a grinning face.

"Yup."

"What is it?"

"Open it and find out." Killian waved the envelope in his hand towards her and she snatched it from between his fingers.

"Okay," she muttered, using her thumb to tear open the envelope and pluck the card out that was inside. On the front was a lone swan on a crystal lake, and when she opened it, there was a handwritten message.

" _Happy Eighteenth Birthday, Emma. I've got you two gifts. One, look up and two, listen._ "

Emma quirked a puzzled brow at the words, but obliged, and did what it had said as she looked up to see Killian extend a single red rose to her.

"Uh… thanks," she muttered, taking the flower. "What do I have to-"

"Will you go to the dance with me?" He asked oh so innocently, and Emma could hear the suppressed snorts of laughter from her friends.

"What does this have to do with anything?"

"I wanted to take you to the dance in a couple weeks and I thought I could pay your fee to get in."

"Bribe much?"

"Emma," Belle warned. "Don't be so rude."

"Yeah, Em. He's asking you to the dance, and as far as I know, he's the only one that has asked you. You don't have a date."

"Yeah, because I had no plan to go." Emma looked over to the boy still standing in front of her. "No offense, but I just _hate_ dances. They're loud and stuffy and there are so many people."

"Oh, come on, Em." Ruby whined. "Belle and I are going."

"We are?" Belle asked with slight bewilderment.

"We don't want to be there alone and I doubt Killian does, either. It's just one dance and it won't kill you." The brunette waitress narrowed her eyes and gave Emma _that_ look.

"Oh, come on," the blonde began to protest, but she was cut short by a finger in her face.

"You're going to that dance, Emma, unless you have other plans that I don't know about, but that's like… impossible, because you're Emma." She smirked. "Plus, I don't see a line of suitors waiting to ask you to the dance."

"And you can make good use of the dress Ruby got you." Belle tried her best to persuade.

"You're never going to let me pass, are you?"

"Nope. Now grow a pair and say yes."

"Fu-... Fine. Only this once." Emma turned to an expectant Killian who had no doubt been eavesdropping in on their conversation. "I'll go with you to the dance- Under one condition. No… _kissing_ or anything like that. As a matter of fact, no _touching_."

"Oh, come on. The whole point of a dance is to touch each other."

"That sounds wrong." Ruby snorted.

"Shut up, Rubes." Emma snapped and crossed her arms. "Fine. But only touch when dancing and no place inappropriate or else I'll be gone faster than you can say sorry."

"Okay…"

"Got it?"

"Got it." He mumbled solemnly.

"Good, now, thank you for the rose." Emma smiled politely. "And the card. It was nice. I like the swan."

"You're welcome." Killian's mood seemed to change in the blink of an eye with a dazzling smile. "I've got some cake calling my name, so… I'm out. We can work out details for the dance later." And with that, he was gone.

"Well, you got yourself a date to the dance, Emma." Ruby giggled as she enjoyed the blonde's torture. "Although, it's with a _guy_ ," she whispered the last part as to not let Emma's parents overhear.

"Yeah, well, I don't see any willing chicks in this school." Emma snorted and twirled the rose around.

"Emma, honey, are you just about ready to leave? It's three." Mary Margaret's voice interrupted whatever witty comment that Ruby was about to say. "I know you wanted to be home to pack and change."

"Yeah, right. And I gotta get all this stuff into their new homes." The blonde nodded and stood, stretching in her place before turning to look down at her friends' sitting forms. "So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"And you better be telling me what Boston is like. I haven't been out of this stupid town yet." Ruby grumbled. "It's so unfair that he's only taking _you_ up there."

"Excuse me, but who's birthday is it?" Emma smirked. "And, anyways, I'm moving up there with him when school ends. All he's doing is touring me around the city."

"I hope you have fun." Belle meekly responded. "Don't let sourpuss get you down."

"I won't." Emma narrowed her eyes at the brunette waitress. "I _was_ going to buy you some stuff, but if you're going to act like that-"

"Fine. Fine. I'll shut up."

"Good." Emma giggled and bent down to hug them both before gathering her things to leave. "Thanks for the stuff, guys. And thank your grandmother for me, Ruby, for letting us use the diner."

"No problem, and I will."

"You're welcome, Em."

They both smiled up at her and waved when the Nolans and herself left. She waved right back, all the guilt that she had earlier weighing her down once again. But Emma couldn't tell her friends the truth as to why she was going to Boston, like how she couldn't tell her parents.

That was something to be worried about later, right now, Emma needed to focus on packing for her trip. She knew that she should have done it last night, but gods, she wanted today to come faster than it should have. The blonde was absolutely thrilled and nervous to be going on a date with Regina.

She dumped her messenger bag for school out onto her mattress to start filling it up. Checking around the room for anything that she might have missed, Emma shucked her shoes and pants off as well as her shirt to try on the dress. She still had enough time to snap a few photos and such for her friends and possibly see if it were to be suitable enough for the restaurant.

She hadn't noticed that the top bit of the dress was a halter top, with its one strap around her neck and the plunging neckline, but upon trying it on, she felt mortified. Emma had never worn something so _revealing_ before. The ruffled skirt of the dress was quite short to her, cutting off at mid-thigh. The entirety of her upper back was exposed, which made the blonde feel uncomfortable. It was no wonder why she didn't find such attire appealing, and when she saw it on other girls – more specifically Ruby – she always wondered how they could do it.

Whatever it may be, she wasn't sure if she would be comfortable enough to wear this out in public. Of course, she could always bring it with her and hope that Regina would think it to be suitable after trying it on, or else, she'd just wear her pantsuit, which she quickly grabbed out of the closet to dress into after peeling the dress off.

With a sigh, Emma quickly shoved the dress into her bag and zipped it up. Did she have everything?

Clothes? _Check_. Undies? _Check_. Back-up shoes? _Check_. Sleepwear? _Check_. Dress? _Check_. Hairbrush? _Check_. Toothbrush? _Check_. CDs? _Check_. Graham's address?

She rummaged through the smaller compartment of her bag and came across the piece of paper that she had stuck in there earlier.

 _Check_.

"I think that's everything," she mumbled to herself as she found her new red leather jacket and donned it. "And still half an hour to spare. Great."

Emma sighed and plopped heavily onto her bed, grabbing her cellphone from the end table. Maybe she should see what Regina was up to. Perhaps she was ready to leave and might want to head out on the road early. With a shrug, she figured it wouldn't hurt to try.

 _Hey, Gina, are you about ready? I'm all done packing and stuff, so, I guess if you want to come early, you can._

"Emma, your father and I have something for you." Mary Margaret's voice startled the blonde, causing her to jump with a surprised " _holy shit_."

"When the hell did you get in here?"

"Not too long ago?" The brunette chuckled, completely ignoring Emma's use of profanity. "Now, dear, since you're going to Boston and I'm quite sure you'll need food and drinks and gas and… and if you see anything you like and you want to buy it, you ca-"

"What your mother is trying to say is that we're going to give you money for your trip in case you need it. You don't have to worry about giving us back the change. Keep it as your birthday gift." David interrupted, stepping forward to hand Emma an envelope.

"Thank you, but it seems like a lot… I really don't want to take it from you."

"Don't worry about it, kiddo. They're mostly one dollar bills."

"Oh, thanks. I can go to a strip club." Emma quirked a brow. "But, really, you didn't have to-"

"It's a birthday gift from us to you, dear. Just take it and make your father happy."

"Then I'm going to use it to get you guys something, because I really can't-" Emma sighed and received the envelope of money from David before stuffing it into the side of her bag.

"Don't sweat it, Em. We love you and this is for _you_. Not us. Spend it on yourself."

"You know I can't-"

"Emma," Mary Margaret used her stern voice, which meant she was serious and there was to be no further argument.

"Alright. Thank you, guys. I really appreciate it." Emma smiled, standing up from her bed to throw her arms around the two. "I love you and I appreciate everything you guys do for me."

"We know, honey."

"We love you, too."

They both had watery smiles as they hugged their daughter back with tight embraces.

"Now, you go have fun, okay? Don't get into any trouble." David tucked a strand of hair behind Emma's ear.

"Yes, and if you are in trouble, don't hesitate to call." Mary Margaret reminded. "And call even if you're not. We wouldn't mind hearing from you."

"Guys, I'll only be gone for one day." Emma chuckled. "Don't worry about it, okay? I'll call you when we get there so you make sure we arrived safely."

"Good, yes, do that." Both nodded at the pixie-haired woman's voice.

"I will." The blonde smiled and picked her phone up from her bed when it had buzzed. It was a message from Regina.

 _ **I'm outside, dear. Whenever you're ready.**_

"Oh, he's here." Emma dropped the phone onto her bed and slung her backpack over her shoulder, looking at her two sullen parents. "I'll be back tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright, Emma. I love you and have a safe trip." Mary Margaret was the first to pull her into a tight embrace before exiting the room with what appeared to be tears in her eyes.

"Yeah, hon. And have fun, but not too much fun." David quirked a brow in her direction and it hit Emma like a brick when she realized what he was referring to with that twinkle in his eye.

"Ew, David, no. I won't be doing _that_ with him." Emma wrinkled her nose and returned the hug when he had chuckled and embraced her as well.

"Good. Now, go, I don't think you want to keep him waiting."

"Nope! I'll see you Sunday." She grinned and hopped down the stairs from her bedroom with David behind her.

Soon, she felt the bitter air of freedom hit her face as she stepped out of the apartment building, a large smile on her pale, pink lips. The first thing wrong, she noticed, was that Regina's lack of appearance. She, nor her black Mercedes, were anywhere to be found.

"Goddammit," she muttered, starting to head down the sidewalk. Regina must have parked away from eyesight so her parents wouldn't see her. It was a smart choice, Emma thought, but a cold one as well. It was still chilly outside, but at least her boots and new jacket kept her warm, although the wind was still a bother.

It wasn't long before she reached the awaiting Benz and its owner just a block down with its beautifully running engine that assured Emma it would be warm inside. She jogged the last few steps to the passenger's door and quickly got in with a shiver.

"It's cold out there," she commented, shoving her messenger bag between her feet on the floor. "I hate winter. And cold. So. Fucking. Much."

"Language, dear." Regina's husky voice sounded from beside her and it was like a choir of angels in Emma's ears. The twisting and constant swirl of metaphorical butterflies in her stomach had returned.

"Gods, I've missed you." Emma found herself saying, a sheepish smile on her face when she turned her attention to the brunette next to her. That woman was _literally_ breathtaking with that stunning smirk on her crimson lips and those smoky eyes sparkling with mischief.

"It has only been one day?"

"Which is too long." Emma giggled a little too giddily.

"I certainly do hope you won't get tired of me after spending so much time in my presence, dear." There was a light tint to her cheeks, which would have been mistaken for makeup if Emma hadn't been staring at the teacher's face for the past five minutes. She was _blushing_.

"I won't, I can promise you that. I'll _never_ get tired of you." She replied honestly, leaning forward to place a tender kiss on the older woman's cheek. "But we should get going so we aren't late, and, uh… Do you think we'd have enough time to stop at the hotel first?"

"Why is that, dear?" Regina's voice had taken a much lighter tone as she pulled away from the curb and headed for the street out of town.

"Well, you see, Ruby got me this dress and I wasn't sure if I should wear it or not. And, anyways, I couldn't wear it out of the house without my parents having a fit." Emma shrugged and quickly put her seat belt on, earning a satisfied smile from the brunette next to her.

"I see. I suppose we would have enough time for you to do that. I have to check into the hotel first, anyhow, before our reservation expires." Regina chuckled at Emma's expression, which probably reflected how much she wanted to hit herself. She didn't think about that.

"We might be late for the show, but that shouldn't matter too much, I hope."

"Not really, I guess." Emma shrugged. "But I hope that wouldn't cost too much or anything, and for being late, I mean- would that be worth it? Graham said it cost a shitload of money to get in."

"Everything will be fine, Emma. We should only be, at max, ten minutes late. Since we are leaving early, we should have plenty of time to get whatever is needed to be done at the hotel." The brunette shrugged nonchalantly.

"If you're sure. I mean, I got money and stuff."

"Don't worry about it, dear. It's your birthday. Let me spoil you."

Emma's only response was a sheepish nod and a blooming blush on her cheeks.

"So, you say you talked to Graham?" Regina asked after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah. I asked him if it was alright that I used him as a cover." Emma shrugged, biting her lip.

"Does he know about us?" She asked, a hint of worry in her tone.

"Y-yeah," Emma mumbled, running her fingers through her hair. "But I made him promise not to tell anyone, and Graham's a good guy. He wouldn't do that, unlike Ruby, so that's why he's the _only_ one that knows now. But-"

"There's a but?" Now her tone was skeptical and her chestnut orbs wide with fear. "What is it?"

"He wants us to visit him before we leave tomorrow." Emma suppressed a frown from Regina's sudden relaxing form, because she knew that she, too, would be terrified out of her wits if there were a 'but' as well in something as serious as this.

"He does?"

"Yeah. He gave me his address. We don't have to if you don't feel comfortable with it. I tried to tell him that." Emma chuckled this time, lighthearted and jubilant. "I haven't seen him in a while and he's happy that we're together, I guess. He freaked the hell out of me when I told him. He called and screamed in my ear. At first, I thought he was going to give me the cold shoulder, but, nope…"

"Nope?" Regina's brows crinkled together. "What do you mean by that?"

"He was pretty cool about it after getting over the fact that you're my teacher. We talked for a bit, and I didn't divulge much, but he knows that you make me super happy and so he's pretty happy about that." The blonde played with a lock of her hair.

"I make you super happy, hm?" The brunette gave her a warm, tender smile.

"Yes, you do, ma'am."

"Interesting," Regina whispered mostly to herself.

They sat in silence for the better part of thirty minutes with Regina's eyes straight ahead on the road and Emma's on the scenery surrounding them, a sated smile on her lips. It was quiet, serene even, with nothing but the road and no traffic to share it with. The world outside was painted white with crystal flakes and decorated with thick woods of green and brown. It seemed so calm, and not at all the harsh cold that it really was.

Emma let her eyes drift away from the painted scene and take a moment to look over the other beauty. The blonde pressed her lips tightly together as wide, emerald eyes took the time to appreciate nature's masterpiece that lay before them. Regina Mills was nothing but pure perfection and even the most gorgeous, spring day could not hold a candle to her.

"Take a picture, dear, it'll last longer." The brunette's voice shook Emma from her thoughts.

"Sorry." She relocated her eyes, catching bits of Regina's pea coat and what appeared to be a strange print in greyscale.

Regina chuckled, a soft melody floating through the otherwise silent vehicle. Emma smiled. _My perfect Gina_ , were the words to echo through the blonde's head and she let them reverberate until the brunette's laughter had tapered off. Then all was quiet again except for the rhythmic hum of the engine.

"We're missing something." The older woman tilted her head in Emma's direction, the corners of her mouth quirked. "It's quite silent, isn't it? Why don't you see what is on the radio?"

"I brought music." Emma blurted, her eyes now staring at the complicated looking stereo.

"Unless you brought tapes with you, dear, I don't think it is possible to listen to anything else besides the radio."

"I have one of those converter things." The blonde bent down to rummage through the messenger bag on the floor between her feet. It had taken her a few moments to remember where she exactly stuck it, but she eventually found the tape she had been looking for and held it up. "See?"

Regina arched an eyebrow at the object, then gestured toward the front console. "Whatever that thing does, have at it."

"They have that little end to 'em just like headphones, that's how they work. So, you can pretty much stick it into any media device." The blonde shrugged, sticking the tape end of the converter before pulling her phone out to hook the other end up to it. "And it works with phones, too."

"I might have to get one of those. It would make some use of the tape player." Regina drew her gaze to the road once again as they finally neared the main highway.

"They sell them at most stores, so I'm pretty sure you can find one." Emma shrugged and tapped her foot to the beat of the music.

"I'll be sure to check into that." The brunette nodded. "I have good news, Emma, as well."

"What is it?"

"We only have a little over three and a half hours left on our trip."

"Sounds like we're making good time." The blonde couldn't help but to chuckle at the sarcasm in the brunette teacher's voice. Regina joined in and both shared a good laugh before finally quieting down to listen to the upbeat tune floating through the car speakers.

The two of them alternated between listening to the music in companionable silence and having idle conversation for the rest of the trip. It wasn't until Regina had mentioned that the final city they were passing through was Boston itself, which had Emma's interest almost immediately.

The lights of the city were captivating as they contrasted against the darkness of the night. The blonde was awe-struck, barely paying any attention to what Regina had been saying to her, but she had been able to catch the tail end of it.

"... hotel just up this street."

"What does it look like?" Emma finally had turned her attention to the brunette, but had kept an eye on the passing buildings for the hotel they were to be staying at.

"It is… that one." The Mercedes had come to a halt in front of a tall building that had the blonde just _gawking_.

"Wha- _that's_ our hotel?"

"Yes, it is, dear. And our room is all the way on the top floor, I think."

"How far is the theater?"

"Not too far. I planned accordingly." The brunette smiled and unlocked the doors to the vehicle. "Now, let us check in and get our things situated so we can make it to the show on time. We've made better time that I thought. It's only 8:15."

"Really?" It had seemed unbelievable that they had made great time on the trip since the traffic was quite unreal. It had seemed like _hours_ more than it should have that they spent on the highway what with the traffic jams, and coming into the city was utter hell.

"Yes, dear. Now, let's go."

The two quickly left the car – after Regina grabbed her overnight bag – and headed into the hotel. Regina didn't even blink, but Emma just could not close her jaw. The inside of the hotel was elegant, decorated with lavish blacks and whites on walls and modern furniture. It was appealing to the eye, especially at a glance which had been all Emma got for Regina went a little too fast that the blonde was unable to admire and gawk. They ended up at the reception desk which had lights that reflected off the white and black marble floors.

"I really feel like I don't belong in here." Emma whispered to the brunette as she sidled up to her, emerald eyes zoning in on each person – each clad in expensive formal attire – before finally landing on the receptionist.

"Don't worry, dear." Regina flashed a toothy smile as they reached the desk. "You're perfect."

"Hello, welcome to Nine Zero! May I assist you?" The woman behind the desk asked politely.

"Yes, I booked a room?" Regina replied smoothly.

"Name?"

"Regina Mills."

The receptionist nodded and typed at a few keys on her keyboard. She soon shuffled through something that Emma couldn't see before handing Regina two card keys. "Alright! Your room is waiting. Here are your keys. Please do come down if you encounter any trouble or concern."

"Thank you." The brunette retrieved the key cards, handing one of them to Emma. "Are you ready to see our room, dear?"

"I'm scared to, actually. I mean, if the _lobby_ is this fancy, I can only imagine what a _suite_ would look like." Emma nibbled on her lower lip as she followed the brunette to the elevator. "I didn't think this place would be so…"

"It is one of the finer hotels in Boston. I was not going to force you to stay in a rat hole of a motel for a fourth of the price."

"I don't want to know how much this costs you."

"Do not worry about that, dear. That is disclosed information for only I to know and for you to never find out." A scandalous smirk crossed over her features. "This is our floor."

"Oh, snap. Okay. Let's do this."

Moments later, Emma was gaping like a fish out of water with jaw dropped and eyes wide. The room didn't seem so much as a hotel room should, instead, it looked as if it were a small, lavish apartment. The room was just as modernized as the downstairs lobby with its posh furniture and decorative pieces.

"Whoa, Regina. You outdid yourself with this."

"Oh, wait until you see the bathroom, dear. If it is anything like most other, as you say, fancy hotel suites, then you're in for a treat." The brunette kept her chocolate gaze on the blonde, a light smile lilting her lips.

"I have to pee anyways." Emma hopped over to the one door and rushed inside to be met with the most elegant crapper she'd ever seen. People have some high priorities if they want to use something like _this_ to just go to the bathroom in.

"Sweet mother of- Did you see this, Gina? It's fucking fancy! Not only do _we_ get to enjoy the lavish restroom, but our shit does too!"

" _Emma_. Do you _have_ to use such crass language?" The brunette came up behind the blonde who was still standing in the doorway, gawking at the modern, greyscale bathroom.

"Yes. Yes, I do." Emma grinned and stepped into the room, dropping her bag on the counter.

Then, she caught sight of Regina's reflection in the mirror and she just about gasped. That woman could not get any more alluring than she was in that moment. Her eyes were shadowed with dark makeup and the shiny, pink lip-gloss really drew attention to her face.

As Emma's eyes skimmed down the brunette's body, she had finally figured out what that pattern was. It was leopard print, and it looked damn good on the older woman also. The neckline wasn't too low and showed nothing but the smooth expanse of her olive skin. It was flattering, hugging every delicious curve.

"Are you alright, Emma?" Regina frowned slightly and took a step into the bathroom, one of her hands finding the blonde's shoulder.

"Y-yeah, I am. You just- You look so beautiful." That had the brunette blushing in no time.

"Thank you."

"It's, really, no problem at all." Emma chuckled lightheartedly and turned around, taking the hand on her shoulder into her own. "I'm kinda jealous of you, but I'm also thankful that I have you."

"That's really sweet of you, Emma." Regina leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on Emma's lips. "And it means so very much to me."

"Good, because I want you to know. And I know I say compliments and stuff a lot, but I have a good reason. Trust me." The blonde replied breathlessly.

"I do trust you, Emma." The English teacher tilted her head. "And I do trust that you will get ready so we can make it in time to the show?"

"That went a different direction." Emma chuckled, but nodded. "I'll get changed and throw on a bit more makeup."

Regina lifted a hand to touch Emma's cheek, a warm smile on her lips. "You don't need to do that, dear. You look beautiful just as you are. There is no use hiding that beauty with cosmetics."

"Neither do you," she mumbled softly, trying her best to keep the blush forming on her cheeks sated.

"Emma," she sighed and gently patted the eighteen-year-old's cheek. "Why don't you get ready? Alright?"

"I won't let this get away."

Regina dropped her arms to her sides, her lips no longer in a smile. "If you're quick enough, I will give you your birthday gift afterwards."

"Wait, what?" Emma blinked, slightly taken aback from the sudden bribery.

"Yes. So, you get ready while I get that for you." And then she was backing out of the room without a chance for Emma to protest

Emma frowned, but quickly stripped so she could don the dress.

"Are you almost ready, dear?" She heard the brunette's voice call out from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, I'm done, actually." Emma gave her reflection one last glance before turning around to open the bathroom door, and when she did, she swore Regina's jaw would detach itself.

"You look stunning, Emma." She whispered, her voice had become rougher and her eyes much darker. " _You_ are perfect."

"Aw, come on. Not really…" Emma turned a light shade of pink, her green eyes focusing on the ground. She felt so _exposed_ and even more so underneath the intense gaze of the brunette. She dared to look up again, willing her skin to not heat up upon meeting Regina's seemingly hungry eyes. "Did- didn't you say you were going to give me something?" She coughed.

"Oh, yes. Right." Regina fumbled with a small, rectangular wrapped package before handing it over to the blonde. "I do hope you like it."

"I probably will." Emma shot her a reassuring smile and delicately opened the wrapping paper to reveal a sleek, black case.

The blonde sucked in an anxious breath as shaky fingers pried open the box to reveal a necklace. It was a silver pendant with a single swan in the middle of it and the piece was attached to a simple, silver chain.

"Oh, it's so- I love it!" Emma's lips upturned into a large grin and her arms flung around the brunette. "I really love it, Gina. Thank you so much!"

"I'm glad that you do, darling." Regina whispered, kissing Emma's forehead before returning the hug. "Why don't you turn around and let me put it on for you?"

"Of course!" The blonde nodded and handed the swan pendant to Regina, then turned around for her to put the necklace on.

"You know, I was doing some reading," the older woman spoke as she brought the chain around the younger woman's neck. "About swans, that is. I read that they mate for life. Quite interesting, isn't it?"

Emma's breath hitched when Regina said those words. Was she trying to imply something or was she just innocently informing Emma of the swan biology? She would just have to play this one out and keep it cool. Nothing would be happening right now anyways, right? They were to go to the Paramount soon.

"Yeah, that is pretty interesting. I guess they're kinda like humans. Well, maybe not. I mean, how we do marriage would be mating for life, right?" Emma stumbled over the words that seemed to be leaving her mouth.

"Something like that, dear." Regina gave her an amused smile. "It's all about finding the right one, and when you do… You just know."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. There's like this little radar that goes off." Emma raised her brows and turned around to meet Regina's gaze, holding it for several long moments. Oh, gods, could she just get lost in those dark pools for hours.

"Did you know that one-fourth of black swans are homosexual?" Regina suddenly inquired, breaking eye contact.

"No shit?"

"They're male, though. But I am sure that there would be females as well. After all, homosexuality doesn't affect just one gender, right?" The brunette fluffed a blonde lock on Emma's head before quickly turning to grab her coat.

"Right." Emma swallowed thickly and retrieved her new red leather jacket, which had earned an eyebrow raise from the brunette teacher. "What?"

"Where on earth did you get that godawful thing?"

"Mary Margaret. Why?"

"That explains it." Regina's brows flew up to her hairline as she picked up her small handbag.

"What?" Emma frowned, following the brunette as she headed for the door. "She bought it for my birthday."

"I couldn't fathom why someone would spend money on such hideous material."

"But, I like it," Emma's voice was small and when Regina turned around, the blonde's face resembled that of a kicked puppy.

"You like it?"

"Yeah. That's why she got it."

"My apologies." She cleared her throat and headed hastily towards the elevator with Emma hot on her trail. "Come along, dear, with your dead cow skin. If we rush, we'll make it there early."

After the show, both women headed out of the building, caught within a large crowd The two of them tried to leave a little early before the rest of the group had, but had been unfortunate when there were many others with the same idea. They were unable to get back inside due to the excessive amount of people stringing behind them as well as every other side.

Emma had, at one point, taken Regina's hand in her own, lacing their fingers together to keep from losing one another in the crowd. When the blonde had looked up to see the older woman's reaction, she melted. The brunette had a warm, radiant smile on her glossy pink lips, although she had kept her eyes forward as not to run into anyone.

It felt like ages before they could completely exit the building, and even longer before they were finally inside the restaurant – still hand in hand. Being behind a few people, Emma took the opportunity look around the restaurant. It was just as nice and exquisite as every other place that Regina had taken her to. The brunette teacher must have quite an expensive taste because she knew all the right places to go and she had, yet, to take Emma somewhere that the blonde wasn't so impressed with.

The lighting was dimmed and – with the dark, chic furnishings – made it feel as if they were still outside with the artificially lit streets. The setting was romantic and the soft melodies playing through hidden speakers didn't counter it, even with the buzzing chatter of the guests.

"It's really nice," the blonde whispered to her date.

"I know, dear. That's why I'm taking you here." Regina flashed her a pearly smile, but the look hadn't lasted long as they were next in line. The brunette applied her fake smile and genial voice. "We have a reservation for two under the name Mills."

"Mills for two," the host repeated, his eyes scanning through the reservation list in front of him. He made a positive sound upon finding the name and looked up with a friendly smile. "Meghan will show you to your table."

A young, blonde server smiled at the two before speaking. "Right this way, please."

Regina nodded and followed behind the server, which had ultimately forced her blonde companion to follow with a surprised grunt. They were shown a small table that seated two, which had been close to another couple's table, and uncomfortably so. Emma had finally released the brunette's hand to take a spot facing opposite the second table as Regina seated herself behind them. Each were given a menu and a choice for beverage. Emma had taken a cola while Regina opted for an iced tea before the girl was off to retrieve the order.

"It's kinda tight in here." Emma mumbled across the table to her date. "I can literally feel those guys next to us breathing."

"You are right, dear, but that is the downfall of restaurants in a busy city." Regina lifted her gaze, her whisky eyes twinkling in the dim lighting.

"Yeah…" Emma could only shrug, trying her best to ignore the way one of them kept staring at her all the while talking to his wife – or so she assumed the woman was.

"Is something wrong?" The brunette frowned and reached across the table to place a hand lightly on the blonde's wrist.

"I feel so out of place," she whispered, looking to the olive toned hand. "Everyone is so much older than me and I feel like I don't have a right to be here."

"Oh, sweetheart." Regina brought her other hand over to cup Emma's pale, delicate one and bent forward to place a kiss atop it. "Do not worry about them, alright? You belong here with _me_. We have every right to dine here for our date, just like everyone else."

Emma took in her words with a simple nod of understanding. Regina was right. She was just letting her anxiety get the better of her. There was no need to panic about other people's thoughts when Regina's was the only that mattered.

"No, you don't." The blonde's head snapped up to the table next to them. The man had spoken and his partner had turned to face the two, as Regina did the same with a glowering expression.

"Pardon?" The brunette's voice was surprisingly calm.

"You heard me." The man's voice was far more aggressive than it should have been. Both Regina and Emma flinched at the tone. "People of _your_ kind should not be allowed to eat with the rest of us."

"People of _my_ kind? Do you have something against Latinas?" Regina's brow quirked, but she knew what the man was referencing and it had nothing to do with her race.

"What? No! Don't make me out to be a racist, because I am _not_ that."

"Oh, but you sure can be homophobic." Emma sneered and felt Regina's grip tighten on her hand.

" _Emma_ , dear, _please_."

"Sorry," she mumbled.

Regina gave her a slight nod and another light squeeze to her hand before speaking once again in a collective tone. "I do not see the harm in us dining in this establishment. We are not intentionally causing others discomfort, but you, sir, are disturbing _us_."

" _I_ am disturbing _you_?"

"That is what I said, yes. You have disrupted our dinner by making a rude comment about our relationship."

" _You're_ the one disturbing _us_. We are trying to have a peaceful meal, but _you_ decided to come here with your disgusting _disease_."

"Pardon me?" Regina's brows knit together, anger momentarily flashing through her eyes before they returned to their cool, calm, and collect state. "All we are doing is simply sitting here, trying to enjoy a simple meal."

"They won't serve you." He spat and his wife nodded, finally speaking with every bit of disgust in her voice.

"They wouldn't dare serve such unnatural behaviorists like yourselves. I mean, take a look around. Do _you_ see any other… homosexuals around you? I don't think so."

 _That woman sounds like a complete bitch_ , Emma thought, scowling from behind Regina's form.

"Perhaps not tonight, _dear_ -"

"That is just _disgusting!_ Did you hear that, Lawrence? She's trying to _flirt_ with me."

"I am _not_ -" Regina tried to defend herself, but the others wouldn't let her talk.

"That's the way of the lesbian, Vicky. They're shameless." The woman's husband, Lawrence, sniffed. "They'll flirt with _any_ woman in their general vicinity."

"All of them are simply _animals_. They are possessed by _demons_. I don't understand how they can let these _monsters_ walk among us normal people." Regina flinched, her grip tightening on Emma's hand.

"The definition of 'normal' is changing, but if your head wasn't so far up your insolent _ass_ , you would know that." The brunette grit her teeth. "Pardon my language, but you really need to open your eyes. The world is changing around you and much quicker than you think. I am as much a human as you are, the only difference is that I prefer women over men."

"Now the _lezzie's_ gone _hostile_!" Lawrence shouted, drawing attention from the tables further away.

Emma felt her cheeks heat as she looked around, noticing that most of the restaurant's patrons were now staring in their direction.

"I am _not_ hostile! I am just stating a simple fact. If anyone were abusive here, it would be _you_." Regina whipped completely around, releasing her death grip on the blonde's hand.

"Is there a problem here?" A man in a black tuxedo had walked over to the two couples. He smelled of authority.

"Yes, there is!" Lawrence sneered, his wife nodding in agreement. He jabbed a finger in Regina's direction. "These two _queers_ are bothering us and it's _disgusting_. I didn't want to have to cause any sort of disruption, but they are ruining with me and my wife's meal."

The man in the suit turned to Regina and Emma. "Is this true?"

"Certainly not. We were simply sitting here, waiting patiently for our drinks to arrive and that gentleman over there made a rude comment towards our _private_ conversation." Regina explained, her voice had reverted to her usual calm tone. "I would even encourage you to ask the other guests around us."

"There is no need for that." He smiled widely at her, then turned to gaze at the scowling couple next to them. "I had a complaint on their table, Ms. Mills, is it?"

"Yes, it is." The brunette simply said.

"I apologize for this, Ms. Mills." The man gave her a genial smile before turning to the couple once again. "I wish not to do this, but I must ask you to leave the premises. Thank you for dining with us."

"We won't be coming again if you're going to allow _that_." Vicky scoffed as she stood, grabbing her items.

"You're _all_ going to hell for supporting these _dykes_ and their unhealthy lifestyle." Her husband growled as the two left the restaurant, but not before shoving their dinner plates to the floor on the way out, shouting, " _This is ridiculous!"_

"I do sincerely apologize for his unruly behavior, once again. Why don't you let us treat you to dinner?" The manager offered, motioning to the abandoned menu on the table. "Choose anything you wish and we shall bring it out for you."

"Oh, you don't have to do that." Regina said softly, taking correct position in her seat again.

"But we insist. After all, it is our job to keep our guests happy and stress-free. I will give you time to decide and have Meghan come back to take your order. I wish you a fantastic rest of the night and please, I do hope to see you again." His never-ending grin was still in place as he turned to walk away, muttering something to their server who had been standing close to the two tables.

"Well, that certainly was exciting." Emma giggled softly and looked through the menu, eyeing all the delicious choices. Her stomach growled just reading the enticing descriptions of each.

"It was, indeed." The brunette agreed, a small smile placed on her lips. "Unfortunately, people like that are not uncommon."

That had the blonde frowning. "Are you going to be alright, Gina?"

"Yes, I will be fine."

"He said some hurtful things." Emma reached across the table to delicately cup the older woman's face, the warmth from the contact immediately spread and warmed the blonde's heart. "I don't want you to think anything bad of yourself. You are an _amazing_ woman."

"Emma…" Regina's eyes drew upwards to meet with emerald, slender fingers wrapped around a pale wrist.

"I- I really like you and I don't want to see you hurt, okay?" She let a smile of her own spread across plum painted lips.

"Okay," the teacher whispered with a small nod of her head. Then there was a slight twitch on her lips before it turned into a full-fledged grin. "You always make me smile, dear."

"Good, I'm glad." Emma's smile on grew wider as their gazes locked in on each other's. There was something swirling in those brown orbs staring back at her, though she couldn't quite place it.

"Have you decided what you would like?" Regina suddenly broke the intense moment, the expression in her eyes dissipating quickly. "I've taken interest in the chicken alfredo."

"That sounded good, but the farmhouse burger sounded better." Emma set the menu aside and beamed.

"Of course, you would order a burger in a classy restaurant." The brunette _tsk_ ed, but continued to smile. "I suppose we need our server to place our order?"

So, they had called the server over, who had been passing by at the time, and ordered their desired meals. It didn't feel like long at all before their plates were set in front of them, Regina inhaling and basking in the aroma of her pasta dish as Emma nearly drooled over her delicious looking burger.

The two of them ate in comfortable silence, each a little too hungry to hold a decent conversation while stuffing their faces with food. At one point, Emma had taken her fork and stole a piece of Regina's chicken, which in return, earned her a disapproving look. They both had ended up laughing before Emma nearly forced a piece of her burger into the English teacher's awaiting mouth.

After a few more apologies from the staff about the couple's rude behavior, Emma and Regina made haste to the Mercedes and left the short distance back to their hotel. It wasn't long before both were to their room's floor at the higher part of the building and giggling over the pet dog that they had seen downstairs in the lobby.

The dog they had seen was a complete fluff ball. Of course, the canine was adorable as hell and originally wouldn't have been a laughing matter if it hadn't been pink – which had matched its owner's attire. Regina had had a hard time trying to express her thoughts through her wheezing laughter, saying something along the lines of it being a tiny ball of cotton candy.

It had taken them a while to finally calm down and enter their hotel room when Regina had finally succeeded in sliding the key card through the slot. Then, as they entered the room, they were engulfed by darkness and silence. The only noise to be heard was the rhythmic sound of their breathing.

"Lights." Regina flicked a switch next to the door, turning on a light just above the door, illuminating the room. She soon kicked her heels off by the door, sighing with relief to be out of them and took her pea coat off as well, folding it neatly onto the couch. Emma, too, did the same by taking her boots off and red leather jacket, placing each next to Regina's own.

"It's good to get out of that," she commented, wiggling her toes.

"Indeed, it is," Regina turned around with a smile on her face, but it all soon fell away as she caught sight of the blonde's attire for the second time. Emma had been too embarrassed while they were out to remove her jacket, so instead of showing off her goods and new dress, she decided to roast in the leather.

"Gina?"

"You…" The brunette trailed off, her lips parted as whisky eyes roved over the blonde's body and the exposed areas of skin. Emma scrunched her eyebrows together, her skin pebbling with goosebumps underneath the older woman's gaze. When Regina's eyes finally met hers, she noticed them to be quite darker, like they often were in such moments.

Then, without warning, Regina had surged forward and pinned the blonde against the wall with her lips crashing against Emma's. It had taken Emma's brain a while to register what the hell was happening, but when she did, she just melted into the kiss and returned it with heat.

The brunette teacher's mouth continued to hungrily move against Emma's, only deepening when she had felt arms curl tightly around her neck and heard a soft moan from underneath her. Then she broke away from the kiss, leaving a panting Emma with nothing to do but whimper from the loss. But that was soon replaced with another soft moan that shot straight to the brunette's core as she trailed her lips down the soft, satin-like skin on the blonde's throat.

" _Gina_ ," Emma gasped when she felt teeth graze against her delicate flesh.

"Emma," the brunette whispered back, raising her head to place a rather sloppy kiss to the corner of Emma's mouth, then pressed her own lips against the blonde's in a more appropriate kiss.

Without separating their lips, Regina carefully began to walk backwards, pulling the blonde with her by petite hips. It took a bit of stumbling and a few bumping into walls before the brunette had finally found the bed, which hadn't been at all graceful. The back of her knees hit the edge and caused her to collapse onto the mattress, leading to her pulling Emma down as well. It had all happened without breaking the kiss and they were still locked together in a passionate lip lock.

Then, finally did the two break apart, gasping for air with flushed cheeks, swollen lips, and dilated pupils. They were only mere inches away from one another, breath heavy and hearts pounding.

"Do you want to…?" Regina's breathless voice inquired and Emma knew immediately what she had meant. The blonde didn't give much thought, and responded with a nod of her head.

Regina nodded silently as well and tentatively brought a hand up to the back of the strap of Emma's dress. The blonde waited with baited breath, her cheeks no doubt turning a deeper shade of red, especially when the entire top fell away and pooled around her waist, exposing her to the brunette.

Regina's eyes flicked up from Emma's bare chest to meet with sheepish green eyes. "You're beautiful," she whispered, bringing a hand up to gently cup one of the round globes.

The blonde bit her lip and let her eyes droop shut, arching ever so slightly into the tentative hand. Regina's hand soon shifted, her thumb grazing over the already taut nipple, which had Emma groan unexpectedly and arched even further into the touch. Gods, everything ached right now, the uncomfortable throbbing between her legs had her yearning to be touched.

But the brunette seemed to have different plans as her head ducked forward to press a few tender kisses to the swell of Emma's breast, then it was her tongue soon replacing it to taste the slight sheen of sweat forming on the pale skin.

" _Oh_ …" The blonde's breath hitched when she felt as that very tongue laved over the sensitive bud, and she ached for Regina to do it again, but the brunette moved away altogether, a conniving smirk on her lips.

"I want you to take your clothes off." She purred, her voice causing a great deal of heat to pool in Emma's lower belly.

The blonde nodded and slipped her dress off the rest of the way, which had left her in a pair of black cotton panties. Her eyes hit the floor as she sat on the bed, being eaten up by the brunette's eyes.

"I-I know my underwear isn't sexy or anything. I- I never really had a reason- and I don't really- didn't really care. No one was going to see 'em anyways." Emma babbled, trying to amend the undergarments she wore.

"Take them off." Regina husked, her eyes had darkened until they appeared almost black.

"I know they're hideous," the blonde mumbled.

"Take. Them. Off." The brunette's voice was now a low growl. "I don't care what they look like. I want to see _you_."

"O-oh…" Emma could feel the blush creeping up her neck as she pushed the panties from her hips and down her long, pale legs. Then she tossed the scrap of material aside, self-consciously crossing one leg over the other.

"Oh, dear, you do not need to cover yourself. You are absolutely _stunning_." Regina grinned, her eyes taking all of Emma in. "If it makes you feel more comfortable, I will undress as well."

"No sense in only one of us wearing clothes…"

"Indeed." The brunette smirked and quickly lifted her dress over her head, tossing it towards the small pile of clothes.

Emma could only gawk at the older woman's body. She was nothing but pure _woman_ with delicious, shapely curves, smooth, olive skin, and her soft, round breasts. They weren't exactly perky, but they were still plump and Emma wanted so desperately to feel those soft mounds in her hands. Regina had worn nothing but a black pair of lacy panties that had soon come off and piled next to the other clothes, leaving her completely bare in front of the blonde.

"Fuck, you're gorgeous, Gina." Emma reached out and tugged on the brunette's arm, forcing her to collapse back onto the bed. "I would die for a body like yours."

"Your body will fill out, yet, dear." Regina smirked, although the blush on her cheeks was quite evident.

"I guess." Emma giggled and scoot to the middle of the bed where Regina had immediately crawled after her, and even further than that as her body began to hover over the teenager's small form, forcing her onto her back with anxious, green eyes. Her heartbeat increased incredibly as did her breath as dark, chocolate eyes bore into her own.

Then lips crashed together, tongues dueling against one another for some sort of dominance. Emma could feel the older woman's leg move between her own, gently nudging them apart, and right then, the blonde knew this was serious. Of course, she had figured that out a while ago, but it was really happening now. The way that the brunette's knee pressed against her center had Emma squirming with a whimper, her hips grinding desperately against it.

"Oh, gods, Gina," she whispered, her hands finding purchase on the brunette's back where short nails slightly dug into the soft flesh.

"You are _soaked_ , aren't you, dear?" The brunette growled, one of her hands disappearing between their bodies. It had found the blonde's aching core to prove a point as her fingers moved along the slit and teasingly dipped into the folds. "Do I really make you feel this way?"

" _Y-yes_ ," Emma gasped, her fingers digging into Regina's back when she felt one of the digits easily slide into her. "You always have."

"Have I?" she asked, sliding the extremity out only to thrust back in, then repeated the action in a steady rhythm.

"Tell me, Emma," she hissed into the blonde's ear, adding another finger with her thrusts. "Have you ever touched yourself while thinking of me? Have you ever wished that your own hand was mine instead?"

"Yes," the blonde groaned, her hips moving at a steady pace to meet each of Regina's thrusts. "O-on several occasions…"

"You're a dirty, dirty girl, Emma." Regina chuckled and pressed a kiss to the blonde's throat. "I find it quite _arousing_ ," she purred, trailing her lips further down the blonde's torso, her fingers continuing their pumps.

"H-have you?" Emma questioned through several heavy breaths.

"Have I what, dear?"

"Have you touched yourself with thoughts of me?" It sounded strange coming out of the blonde's mouth as she asked her _teacher_ that very question.

" _Maybe_ ," was the brunette's simple answer as she now sat slightly on her knees, her head level with Emma's soaked core.

"Oh, _gods_ …" Emma moaned, her fists twisting in the sheets as she watched Regina's head disappear between her thighs and felt that tongue start to teasingly lick at her sensitive flesh.

Her breaths were nothing but short gasps, her heart hammering as if on overdrive in her chest. That woman sure knew how to use her tongue, and quite well, Emma noted as she felt the pink muscle slip along her folds and find the sensitive bundle of nerves.

" _Shit… Re-Regina…"_ Her brain nearly blanked when Regina's tongue relentlessly moved in time with her fingers, strumming against the blonde's clitoris, her back arching off the mattress in response as her hands desperately tried to find something to grab onto for dear life.

Emma's brain _had_ blanked when the brunette's fingers curled and hit the right spot that pushed the blonde over the edge. Her toes curled and her body stiffened as she rode the waves of pleasure coursing throughout her entire being, Regina had helped her ride it out with a few more thrusts of her digits.

" _F-fuck…"_ The blonde had finally regained control of her mind and body after finding ground once again, her heart thumping wildly as if she had just run a marathon. Emma had opened her eyes from their squeezed state and stared at the brunette as she climbed back up to lay next to the blonde, a wide smile on her lips.

"I hope I made a good first impression," she mewled, one of her hands pushing a few strands of blonde hair behind Emma's ear.

"Considering you're my first, I must say you did a pretty good goddamn job." Emma rolled onto her side to face Regina.

Regina quirked a brow. "You've never had sex before?"

Then she shrunk against the bed, looking ashamed. "No," she muttered quietly.

"I wish you would have told me." Regina frowned and cupped the blonde's cheek. "I would have made it special for you."

"But this _was_ special." Emma tried a smile, her hand covering the older woman's. "Really special for me. Don't worry about it."

"Oh, but sweetheart-"

"Hey, there'll be plenty of times where you can make it special- I mean if you wanna do this again. You probably won't after you let me attempt to touch you."

"I wouldn't blame you if you were to have fault. It would be your first time, after all."

"Yeah, I guess." She shrugged, letting her hand fall away to Regina's hip. "Want me to try it?"

"Well, I _am_ rather horny at the moment." There was that humorous twinkle in those brown eyes again.

"Then let me take care of that. Or at least to the best of my abilities."

"If you make me orgasm, then I am satisfied." Regina smirked, nuzzling closer to the blonde until they were but a hair width apart.

Emma leaned forward, closing the gap between them, and kissed Regina softly.

Her hand dropped from the brunette's hip to her lower belly. She certainly did hope that she didn't screw anything up and that meant that she had to keep her mind cleansed of all fears so she wouldn't do just that.

The way Regina groaned into her mouth as her fingers danced across her skin had Emma encouraged, and enough so to let her digits travel further until they reached the smooth skin just before the brunette's sex. She felt Regina's legs move, opening for the blonde's exploring fingers, and so she took the invitation to delve deeper into the soaked folds.

"Oh, gods, I _need_ you, Emma," the brunette panted, grinding wantonly against the blonde's hand. "I'm _aching_."

"Then I will give you what you want," Emma murmured against the teacher's cheek as she used her fingers to part the folds and explore between them. She allowed her slender digits to slide vertically within the crack of Regina's intimate flesh, her fingers already soaked with the brunette's arousal. The noises she had started to work those digits faster.

" _Please_ ," Regina panted, her hips rocking against Emma's hand, desperately seeking for more pressure. The blonde smirked, following her simple plea and guided her fingers up until they grazed over the pert nub that had the brunette gasp and arch her back into Emma.

" _Right there… oh… yes…_ "

Emma applied pressure this time as she allowed her fingers to run over the sensitive bundle once again, and again before stopping to rub tight circles against it, which earned few guttural moans. Then she felt a tight grip on her arms, which had alerted her that Regina had started to use her as some sort of ground to set her feet on as her hips continued to move at an even quicker pace than before.

"I-I'm close, Emma," she groaned, hiding her face in the blonde's neck. " _Oh, gods… faster…_ "

The blonde bit her lip and tried her best at a faster pace, trying her best to ignore the stinging, sore muscles in her arm as it began to protest the mundane movement. Just as Emma thought she would have to stop, she felt the brunette stiffen and her movements suddenly slowing to a stop as she found her release. The blonde held onto Regina with her free arm as she continued with her motions, although a little slower.

Regina's stiff form soon turned limp after the high was over and Emma's second arm wrapped tightly around the brunette's body. The older woman's face was still buried in Emma's neck, and she could feel the heavy breaths that wisped against her skin as she soon moved away after a few moments.

"I hope I did good," the blonde whispered, looking down into exhausted, brown eyes.

"You did, Emma."

"Good," she mumbled, nosing into the sweat soaked raven locks. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"I did enjoy it. Perhaps a little too much." Regina chuckled softly, yawning shortly after. "I don't know about you, but I am exhausted."

"I am, too," Emma mumbled.

"We've had a long day and this was the perfect ending to it." The brunette responded, shifting out of Emma's arms. The blonde frowned at the loss of heat, but was soon aware that Regina had been moving to crawl underneath the blankets. Quickly, she did the same and snuggled underneath the warmth.

"Right. I think it's sleepy time, don't you?"

"Yes." Regina yawned once again and shifted closer to the blonde's body. "Goodnight, Emma."

"Goodnight, Gina," she could only whisper in response, her eyes drooping helplessly.

"I love you." Emma heard Regina's husky voice mumble beside her, which had the blonde do a sort of double take at the older woman. Green met brown, and green instantly melted.

She knew what that look in the brunette's eyes were now.

Oh, gods, how could she be so stupid? How could she be so stupid with herself, even? Here she was, her feelings for this woman slowly growing even before they had started to date. She denied it all she could and convinced herself that she had liked the brunette, and nothing more.

These feelings she had for the brunette; the utter joy she had upon seeing that smile on her face, her desire to _make_ that smile appear on her face, the butterflies she got with just one look, the way her heart fluttered with every touch, the way her heart just seemed to _expand_ with every sweet word; it had all boiled down to one thing.

It Emma were to be in this situation, say, three years ago, there would be no way she could ever respond correctly to it. She would more than likely run away like she did with most of her problems. But ever since moving to Storybrooke, things have changed. _She_ had changed and today's Emma _could_ express how she felt more easily.

So, she did what the new Emma would do and said, "I love you too."


	14. The Graham Cracker-The Forgotten Phone

" _Ah_!" The blonde teenager jolted upright from her slumber as she felt something slap her.

Emma groaned softly, stirring in her spot to glare at the source on the opposite side of the bed. However, the glowering look hadn't lasted more than a few milliseconds before realizing that it had been Regina. The woman was stunning and the way that the morning sun's soft rays of light had Regina's skin glowing.

Although, her position was a little awkward, being splayed out on her stomach with one arm under her chin and the other haphazardly thrown on Emma's side. She must be cold with her thighs being the only thing covered, or perhaps too warm.

"Beautiful," Emma whispered, bringing a hesitant hand out to gently stroke the older woman's raven locks. Regina stirred only slightly, a soft smile on her face before a snore ripped through the otherwise quiet air.

"Wow, you're… still too adorable." She smirked and stroked the brunette's cheek with the back of her hand. She knew how much Regina detested being called adorable, because she just simple _could not_ be. Emma did not care, she would keep calling Regina adorable all she wanted until she finally accepted that fact, or at least the fact that the blonde was relentless.

Right now, though, the brunette didn't exactly fall in the adorable category – or at least when Emma let her eyes drift down the taut, sun kissed skin of Regina's back.

She ran her fingers through brunette hair one last time, her fingers sliding from the tendrils to skitter down the olive toned flesh. It was just as soft as it had looked. Emma's eyes followed her fingers as they traced the brunette teacher's spine, stopping abruptly at the base with wide eyes. There, underneath her pale fingers, was _not_ natural colored flesh.

Emma moved her hand away to squint at the small discoloration to find it shaped as a deep, red apple. A _very_ detailed apple at that and it appeared to have very small words written around it. The blonde knew that she loved the fruit, but why would she have a tattoo of one?

The curiosity getting the better of her, Emma wiggled her way down the mattress to soon come closer to the apple tattoo. It was hard to concentrate on what the tiny words said when the older woman's voluptuous behind was in her face. They were like two scoops of ice cream and looked far better out of those tight skirts and ass-hugging slacks. Her dream of being able to touch Ms. Mills' posterior had come true, and gods, she could _do_ it if she wanted to right now.

 _But_ , she had a mission to complete. Tearing her eyes away from Regina's bum, she, instead, guided her attention to the apple that lay in a very enticing place and read the small, cursive print.

" _Have a taste of my forbidden fruit._ "

"Fucking hell…" Emma reread the small font several times over, trying to conceive what it had said and make sure that she hadn't misread anything.

"I see you've discovered my tattoo." A voice, heavy with sleep, grumbled and Emma's hand felt the vibrations underneath her as Regina had spoken. That didn't sate her more-than-mild jump of surprise and embarrassment of having been caught.

"Y-yeah." The blonde stuttered, trying to find the right words to not sound like a complete idiot. "When- Why? I mean-"

"I know what you mean, dear." The brunette's body began to rumble with laughter. "I got it when I was your age, dear. I was young and careless and I didn't think it mattered since I strongly believed that I would be a successful writer with a risqué tattoo. Also, defying my mother seemed quite an attractive idea. But I was wrong about my career and my defiance. I'm lucky that I got it on my lower back, so it's easily hidden."

"But, why-" Emma sucked in a breath and squirmed her way back up to face the brunette, who was still in the same position. "Why _that_?"

"I like apples and I thought it to be humorous at the time since apples are the forbidden fruit as well as… well, genitals. I was a rather… dirty girl."

"You still are." The blonde mumbled under her breath, earning a chuckle from the older woman.

"Indeed, I am, so the tattoo still suits me, correct?"

"You like apples." Emma shrugged, a smirk playing on her lips as her fingertips traced the contour of the apple tattoo. "And I'm quite sure your _forbidden fruit_ tastes delicious."

"Wouldn't you like to find out?" The brunette flashed a seductive grin, her nose wrinkling ever so slightly as she bared her pearly teeth. "And I'm being absolutely serious when I'm asking you that question."

"Oh, are you now?" The blonde's fingers made small, circular strokes around the tattoo on the small of the teacher's back. "What does this say, now?" she asked innocently, bending over the older woman to peek, her blonde locks lightly tickling the olive toned surface.

"Why don't you read it and find out?" Regina purred.

Emma let a grin spread wide across her lips as her eyes, once again, scanned over the words. "Have a taste of my forbidden fruit," she repeated what she had read. "Gods, you're bad, you know?"

"Oh, I know." The brunette chuckled deeply, which raised the hairs on Emma's body. "I do hope you know what you need to do."

"I think I do." Emma bit her lip and brought herself onto her knees to get better balance on the bed. She reached for the opposite side of Regina and, without hesitancy, flipped the brunette teacher over, earning a squawk of surprise.

"Why, hello there, dear." The brunette smirked, her whisky colored eyes staring lustfully at the blonde above her.

"You're even more beautiful in the sunlight, Gina. Breathtaking, even." Emma whispered as she moved to straddle the older woman's hips. A sweet smile was soon spread across her lips, and a hand had found its way onto the brunette's soft cheek, her thumb stroking it in the slightest.

Regina nuzzled the warm hand, her eyes half-mast as she watched Emma through slit eyes. Her cheeks were dusted with pink, her eyes on Emma's every movement and her breath hitching when the blonde's pale fingers roamed over her satin skin, soon covering one of the swells of her chest.

Emma couldn't bite back the smile that spread wide across her lips. The expression Regina wore was breathtaking and quite arousing with a lax smile. Her breast felt like a little sack of heaven, which was everything that Emma had thought. It was soft and firm, and the peak of it greeted Emma's hand eagerly.

"Emma," the brunette murmured breathlessly, slender fingers combing through the girl's blonde mane.

"It's soft," she muttered stupidly in response, kneading the mound of flesh slowly, as if she were marveling in the feel of it. "I think I found my new favorite thing."

" _Oh_ , have you, love?" Regina purred, pressing herself against the blonde's hand. There was a soft smirk on her full lips as she let her fingers slide through the younger woman's curls and down her smooth, pale back.

Emma shivered underneath her touch and grinned at the little endearment as she shifted her body into a far more comfortable position, nestling herself between the brunette teacher's legs. "I'm 'love' now?"

The older woman nodded, her arms now wrapping completely around Emma, pressing their exposed skin against each other. "Indeed, you are, _my_ _love_. You are all mine and I am all _yours._ "

"Who would have thought that?" The blonde chuckled softly and pressed a kiss to Regina's throat, then trailed soft kisses further down until they reached the brunette's clavicle. Her lips peppered the expanse of skin there, causing Regina's body to shake with small bouts of laughter. Emma couldn't help the curve that immediately lifted her mouth into a grin.

What _did_ Regina taste like, she wondered? She _was_ in the correct position, and she was quite sure the brunette wouldn't mind if she licked her? So, Emma did just that, dragging her tongue back up to Regina's throat, using the valley between her breasts as a guide.

The brunette shivered underneath the younger woman's mouth, her back slightly arching and her nails digging into Emma's pale skin.

" _Oh, Emma…_ " she mewled into the blonde locks.

Emma smiled against the teacher's sun kissed flesh as she soon brought them down once again, tracing an invisible line down Regina's torso. The further she went, the louder the whimpers came from the brunette, and a few pleas for her to soothe her aching arousal. It wasn't long before Emma had reached the woman's intimate flesh, her body now inched down on the bed and her head level with Regina's slick heat.

Tentatively, the blonde moved her tongue along the older woman's smooth folds, her eyes immediately drooping as she enjoyed the new flavor that exploded on her taste buds. Regina was slightly sweet, just as her favorite apples, and bitter – but in all good ways possible. Emma could swear she was her new favorite flavor.

"More, Emma. _Please._ " The brunette moaned, her back arching as her hips gyrated forward against the blonde's mouth.

Emma abided the request and proceeded to repeat her movement, this time adding slightly more pressure as she ended on the older woman's sensitive nub. Regina's body jerked slightly before grinding against the blonde's face, her legs spreading wide as she begged for more. Emma could only groan against the slick flesh in response before slipping her tongue into the brunette, her arms wrapping around the teacher's thighs.

Emma set a steady pace as she darted her tongue from Regina's writhing form.

The brunette made few noises as she concentrated on finding her release, which hadn't taken long as she found her throbbing bundle of nerves again and gently sucked, teasing her entrance with a finger until she came with a soft cry of pleasure. Her back arched off the bed in the intense moment of pure bliss and her fingers tugged and twisted in the soft blonde locks on her lover's head.

" _Fuck_ ," the brunette allowed a soft moan to rumble in the back of her throat when Emma had crawled back up the length of Regina's body.

"Language," Emma whispered, pressing a kiss just below the older woman's ear. "You always tell me to keep a clean mouth."

"During sex is an exception." Regina smirked and wrapped her arms tightly around the younger woman's body, her chest heaving as she continued to catch her breath.

"It sounds sexy coming from you."

"You think everything I do is sexy, Emma."

"That's because you're just an all-around sexy woman, Gina," Emma purred. "And I love it. I... love _you_."

That had the brunette teacher beaming, a watery, yet affectionate smile, spread widely across her lips. She brought a hand up to push a few strands of the blonde hair from Emma's face before cupping her cheek. "And I love you, beautiful."

The blonde's cheeks burned with embarrassment as she buried her face in Regina's raven locks, inhaling the sweet scent with a purr. "You're so sweet, Gina. And I'm genuinely surprised… just… flabbergasted that you actually _love_ me back."

"Why wouldn't I, dear?" The brunette frowned softly, her tanned fingers combing through golden strands of hair.

Emma let herself go limp against Regina's body, a strained sigh slipping from her lips.

"I'm an unlovable, worthless piece of trash, or so I've been told many times when I was younger," Emma murmured, scooting her body down the brunette's slightly to lay her chin on the older woman's chest.

"Oh, Emma, dear." Regina had a visible frown on her face, although had nothing but love sparkling in her whisky eyes. "Why haven't you told me this before?"

"I don't want people to feel sorry for me or anything, and if I say something like this to certain people, they may think that I _am_ looking for some sort of sympathy. But I'm not. I- I just like to be left alone." Her eyes fell shut as she felt Regina's hand gently caressed her cheek. "It wasn't like anyone cared about me, anyways."

"Let me tell you something, Emma." Regina shifted slightly up to bring her back to the headboard and Emma up with her. Her soft, pink lips pressed a tender kiss to the blonde's awaiting forehead. " _You_ are worth something to _me_. Those kids were wrong. _Everyone_ deserves love, _everyone_ is worth something, and _everyone_ has a purpose. They were just trying to hurt you because they were already hurting, and I doubt that they would want to see you happy and whole while they were not."

"I know. But what they have said to me has stuck and my brain _believes_ that I am not worth anything to anyone, especially not worthy of love." The blonde tilted her head, emerald eyes meeting with soft, brown ones. "You're an amazing woman and you deserve so much more than me."

"But I don't want anyone else but you, Emma." Regina whispered, bringing Emma's face closer to her own. "You've shown me that I could love and that someone could feel the same about me."

"But what about our age difference? Aren't you scared?"

"I was at first, trust me, Emma. I was. It had scared me- these feelings that were starting to form ever since we met. I found myself slowly longing to see you again. Especially during lunch, where we would talk and spend time with one another alone. And when we first kissed, I knew where I was standing with my feelings for you. And right then, I knew that I couldn't possibly lose you. All the fears about the consequences that might come of our relationship had vanished and I knew I wanted nothing more in that moment."

"I can't promise anything, Gina. I can't. One day I may be up for whatever the world may throw at me and the next I might want to run away and hide." Emma sighed softly, her voice a soft murmur. "But whatever might happen between us-"

"Nothing bad will happen," Regina whispered, stroking the blonde's hair.

"How can you be so sure?"

"I can't, but someone needs to say it so we're reassured. I know that whatever we have here will be a long, bumpy road, with many twists and turns, and something will be bound to happen, but we'll just have to strive through it- Unless we can't."

"I don't want to get to a point like that." Emma sighed and rolled onto her back next to the brunette woman.

"I assure you that it won't happen anytime soon, alright, sweetheart?" Regina flashed her that perfect, radiating smile before tossing onto her side with a finger trailing down the blonde's abdomen. Emma shivered from the contact, her muscles constricting with angst.

"Now, let me-" The teacher grunted slightly as she hoisted herself up and on top of the blonde teenager that lay next to her. "-make love to you. It's my turn."

"Make love?" Emma quirked a brow and bit her lip as she stared curiously at Regina.

"Yes. I am going to make up for last night. I want to make this special for you." The brunette purred, her hot mouth mere inches from Emma's own.

"Special," she echoed.

"Yes." Regina smirked, pressing her lips lightly to the blonde's. "And I do hope you will enjoy it."

"I will, Gina. I definitely will." Emma breathed, tilting her head up to capture the brunette teacher's lips again, this time in a proper kiss. Her fingers twisted in raven locks as the older woman kissed her back with great vigor, the entire lower half of her body pressing against Emma's naked flesh.

Their lips molded together in a heated tango with pale fingers curling into raven locks and olive fingers skating down porcelain flesh. Emma's breath hitched as she felt those very fingers slide further south, down to her awaiting flesh. When they met with her core, her entire body reacted with enthusiasm; nails digging into tanned skin, hips bucking upwards, and legs closing in around the hand that pleasured her.

She moaned softly, her back arching slightly off the bed as her hips continued to roll at their own mediocre pace when the brunette teacher had started to slowly add pressure to a certain spot that had Emma's eyes nearly rolling to the back of her head. "Please don't stop."

"I don't plan on it, dear. The precious noises that you make are quite _enticing_ , and they are my new favorite melody." Regina purred into the blonde's ear before using that mouth of hers to trail tender kisses down the sweat-beaded skin of Emma's neck. "I plan to keep the song playing. After all, this is special."

" _Mhm_ … _yes_ , it is." The blonde bit her lip, her eyes squeezing shut as the brunette let her fingers pump harder onto the spot that had her squirming on the bed underneath the older woman's slowly rocking form.

"You like this, hm?"

"I-I do," Emma groaned, her short nails digging into Regina's arms as the brunette made one hard thrust, then proceeded to keep at that pace.

"Tell me, how much do you like this?"

"I love it!" She tried to keep at the new pace, her hips grinding and moving wantonly against her lover's hand.

"Good." The word that came out of her mouth was a deep, seductive growl that had Emma nearly over the edge already. "Now, tell me; What do you want? Do you want _more?_ Do you want it _harder?_ Do you want it _faster?_ Tell me, Emma dear, _what do you want?_ "

"I-I want all of those things." Emma couldn't help but to moan her words as the brunette had, in fact, sped up with harder thrusts, her fingers soon delving further between the folds and knuckle-deep into the blonde's body.

"Then you shall receive, my dear." Her voice was nothing but pure lust, her eyes reflecting her growing desire. This woman was nothing but a walking, talking body of pure sex and everything she did, even so much as a single glance, had Emma tingling in all the right places.

" _Fuck, Gina_ …" she whimpered, the pace of her lower half increasing in time with each wrist flick. " _Please… m-more…"_

"Of course, my dear." The brunette smirked, her mouth soon attaching itself to the blonde's neck with teeth scraping against pale flesh and tongue tasting the salty surface. " _Anything for you…_ "

" _Aah... That's good_..." The blonde murmured against raven hair as the older woman made her move down to the swell of flesh on Emma's chest. Her lips ghosted over the soft mound, her tongue every so often darting out to catch a taste of the pale skin until it had reached the already hardened nub waiting as it protruded proudly in its rose-colored glory.

Then Regina's hot mouth was covering the tip and sucking rhythmically with each thrust she put into Emma. This had the blonde squirming in her spot, her back arching almost involuntarily into the brunette's mouth and her entire being moving to the beat that the older woman had set. It wasn't long until she felt the pressure building and thought nothing but to achieve the release that she needed. Every movement was jerky and frantic, and she could feel the brunette's fingers moving faster and her tongue swirling even quicker around her swollen nipple.

And then she exploded; little white stars clouded her vision and she felt nothing but pure bliss as her body tensed and slowed in its ultimate release. And as she was coming down from her high, Regina's fingers pulling from her body and her mouth moving away from her chest, she heard three little words expressed in a husky, yet sweet, whisper.

" _I love you_."

"I love you, too," she panted, sinking against the mattress, completely spent.

"I like it when you say that." Regina smiled sweetly, brushing a few wayward strands of gold from Emma's face. "It feels so _good_ to be loved by someone."

"Haven't you been loved by someone?" Emma frowned and shifted her body as the older woman occupied the open space next to her. "I couldn't imagine that."

"My mother was the only one to ever love me, or that I had ever truly loved." She confessed, her voice meek. "It was all my mother's fault, really. She's one of those twisted women that get into your head and make you believe everything that she says."

Emma's face creased into a much deeper frown at this new information as she digested what the brunette teacher was telling her. That was really screwed up, but she feared that what Regina was telling her right now wasn't even the worst part of it.

"My father had died when I was young and she said that it meant that our bond and love for one another would only grow stronger. Any friends that I had had when I was younger never stayed around long. My mother always tried to reassure me and say that mother loved the most and that she would never leave me like those ungrateful brats. My mother was, and is, quite rich. I probably should have been the most popular girl in school and living the dream with all the luxuries that I had, but I was nothing but a mama's girl."

There was a moment of silence and Emma was about to speak and change the subject before the older woman finally spoke once again.

"She kicked me out after she found out that I was gay." Regina closed her eyes, a few tears slipping down her flawless olive cheeks. "Gods, and what a way for her to find out. She was supposed to have been taking a business trip and wasn't due back for at least a few more days. My mother decided to surprise me with her presence, and with surprising me, came surprising the girlfriend that I had at the time. Least to say, she wouldn't have bought the sleepover bit that I used before since the girl and I were making out on my bed.

"After finding solid ground and acquiring a job at the local newspaper, I had realized how much better off I was without my mother. I found that it was easier to breathe without her and I felt free for once. Although, I found it hard to befriend others because I just hadn't trusted anyone. I was always reminded by the nagging voice in the back of my mind that my mother was the only person that I needed in my life, and for some reason I had always wanted to make her proud. I-"

The brunette paused, her lips slightly parted in thought about what she had wanted to say next. Whatever it was, it was putting up a difficult battle inside her head. She hesitated a bit more and Emma thought she wouldn't even finish her thought, but then she spoke with a very, _very_ quiet voice that the blonde would have missed if she weren't so concentrated on the teacher's next words.

"I still want to."

"Hey, you don't have to feel bad about that. You're lucky to have a mother that loves you." Emma reached out to gently grace her fingers across Regina's tear stained cheeks.

"I know, but I feel so horrible for wanting her. But I felt so lost when she stopped returning my messages."

"Gina." Emma's green eyes were wide as saucers as she watched the brunette teacher break down in front of her.

The blonde's heart went out to the woman. They weren't so different after all, as Emma had thought they were. Regina seemed to have the perfect life and she even envied her, but after hearing what her mother had done and what she was, she wasn't so jealous anymore. The two were more alike than Emma could ever imagine.

"Hey, look, ba-…uh…Gina, I'm sure your mother just got caught up with stuff or maybe something happened and she just can't contact you." Emma tried her best to comfort the sniveling woman.

"You're probably right, Emma." Regina sighed softly, shaking her head with a pathetic smile. "Look at me, crying like a child. I shouldn't be doing this. Crying after sex is a big no-no."

Emma ran her fingers through Regina's hair one last time before pushing a lock behind her ear with a soft chuckle. "It's alright, Gina. You're allowed to be vulnerable every once in a while."

"No, not on our date." The brunette kissed her lover's cheek. "I can't."

"You can do whatever you want, b-… Gina."

"Are you having a hard time with speaking as well, dear?" Regina cracked a smile through teary eyes as she brought a hand up to wipe at her cheeks.

"I want to call you 'babe' or 'baby' for some weird reason. I dunno. I was never one to think that I would use pet names or anything and I don't think those really suit-"

"Use them if you wish, sweetheart." She chuckled, a husky and melodic sound that had expanded Emma's heart and brought a smile to her face.

 _Yup. She could definitely listen to that laugh on repeat._

"Really?"

"I do not mind at all. I find it rather _endearing_ , and anything from you will make me smile, regardless." She purred, leaning forward to press a kiss to Emma's cheek. "So, please do use those cute little pet names that you feel so inclined to say. I do not mind one bit. Just remember, though, when we are in class you may not call me 'baby'. You must-"

"Address you as Ms. Mills, yes, I've got it." Emma gave her a wry smile, but they had both ended up laughing regardless. "I've got it, _babe_."

Then she was snickering with a hand flapping uselessly in the air. Emma stare at the brunette with incredulous eyes, unable to comprehend what the hell was going on. Did Regina finally lose it?

"What the fuck, Gina?"

"You said 'I've got it, babe.'" She finally said after her giggles had dissipated.

"What's so funny about that?"

"I've got _you_ , babe." The brunette muttered, a wide smile on her face.

"What the hell are you talking about? I don't get it."

Regina jutted out her bottom lip and gave Emma the most pitiful of looks before flipping the covers completely onto the blonde and slipping out of the bed. "Figures you wouldn't. You're too _young_."

"Hey! No age jokes! That's- that's age-ist!"

"Age-ist, Emma?"

"Prejudiced!" The blonde corrected as she also clambered out of bed, following the brunette as she moved across the spacious bedroom bit of the hotel suite. "Anyways, what did you mean by what you said?"

"I've got you, babe. That's a song, a rather old one at that-"

"Oh!" Emma lightly slapped the older woman's tanned arm as the light bulb finally lit. "I know what you're talking about! Sonny and Cher. It's an alright song. I like Cher a bit, I mean."

"You do?" Regina grinned and turned around, seizing both of Emma's hands. "I love her."

"I never took you as a Cher fan, Gina."

"Likewise." The brunette arched a brow. "I thought you were mostly into rock."

"I am, but I like a lot of weird music. It's strange, but so am I." Emma giggled as she was dragged into the bathroom. "Also, for my birthday, I got her new CD. Maybe we can listen to it sometime?"

"That sounds like a brilliant idea, darling." Regina smiled, turning around to place a kiss on the blonde's nose. "But right now, we need to bathe and set off. It's nearly eleven and that's the checkout time."

"Shit, right. And we still need to find out where Graham lives so we can visit him before we leave."

"Indeed, dear. So, we must act fast and take a shower together to save time."

" _Oh_ , _kinky_ -"

Regina rolled her eyes and turned on the overhead shower, then gave Emma a gentle push toward the tub. After the blonde had gotten in, she did as well. "No funny business, alright? We don't want to get back too late."

"Okay," The blonde muttered, already hungry to put her hands back on the older woman's addicting body.

* * *

The funny business as Regina had said shouldn't be had was listened to. Emma hadn't tried to touch her or make any advance and the brunette didn't either. It made things much quicker, although, she had resisted several urges throughout the duration.

There were a few minutes to spare by the time the two had reached the front desk, both with damp hair and sheepish smiles. If the receptionist had noticed their condition, she didn't say anything about it. Neither one had cared about their appearances for they were in a rush to get out of Boston – or at least the hotel, for now, since they still needed to pay a visit to Graham.

And the road there was absolute hell. There was traffic both left and right in abundance that was unpleasant and they were still lost. Graham had only given Emma the address to his apartment and Regina had told the blonde to ask her friend for directions. Of course, they hadn't known where they were at the time and that had taken at least another ten minutes to get the street they were on. Finally, and luckily, Graham had been able to pinpoint their location and give them directions to his apartment.

"And take a left, then we're there." Emma announced with satisfaction, a wide smile on her face. "Fucking finally."

"Language, dear." Regina gave her a wry smile, reveling in the way Emma had made face as a child would when they were scolded for using such language.

"We're here!" Emma broke Regina from her thoughts as she grinned. The brunette drove up the street that Graham's building was on to park where the two soon made their way up the path of the rundown apartment building.

Of course, Regina hadn't expected anything more than this, seeing as to how Graham was just a college student and she knew that his family wasn't exactly wealthy. He was lucky to have an apartment to himself, and Emma was lucky that she would be able to readily move into it once she had graduated from high school.

That thought, though, had Regina's heart sinking to the pit of her stomach. She didn't want to think about Emma graduating and leaving her behind in Storybrooke. Although, there really was no telling where their relationship would be at that point in time.

"What the fuck is that stench?" Regina heard the blonde beside her groan as soon as she opened the door to the apartment building. The brunette wrinkled her nose upon smelling the scent that Emma was referring to. She couldn't quite place what it was, but it was a rancid odor and she wished to escape it quickly. Hopefully Graham's apartment didn't smell this horribly or else she would get sick.

"I am unsure, but let us quickly get to your friend's apartment so we don't soon find out."

"Agreed." Emma reached over and slipped her hand into the teacher's, earning a smile from the brunette, and led her toward the stairs. Soon enough, they arrived in front of a door with what was left of the numbers through the decipherable faded paint: 218.

The blonde knocked on the door with three, sturdy raps and backed up, the grip she had on Regina's hand tightened ever so slightly as they waited. Regina, in return, had squeezed her hand back and smiled, moving to stand behind the blonde. Any sort of worry that was bubbling quickly dissipated as the slide of a lock sounded and the door to the apartment opened to reveal a handsome young man with a scruffy beard and kind eyes.

"It's about time that you showed up." Graham joked as the two stood outside his apartment door, Emma rolling her eyes at his statement. His voice sounded familiar, Regina noted, eying the man before her curiously.

"It's not even one." The blonde playfully shoved his shoulder.

"Still, too late. I've been up since ten." He sniffed and stepped aside, allowing room for the two to enter. "Please, come in. I know it's not the cleanest, but it's a hell of a lot better than that hallway."

"Yeah, it reeks out there. What the hell, man?" Emma wrinkled her nose before following behind her friend, Regina's hand in her own. As they entered the apartment and the door was closed behind them, Regina was relieved to find out that it did not, in fact, smell anything like the putrid hallway.

"I don't know, it's a shitty building. Everyone's cooking fumes like to go out there." Graham shrugged, leading the two following behind him to the living room. "I didn't have enough money to get an apartment on the good side of town."

"I know. I'm just joking, Graham. I'll be living here soon anyways."

"Oh, you're still going to move up here?" He smirked and gave the brunette teacher behind Emma a look.

Regina, though, tried to avoid the young man's stare. It was bad enough that she recognized his face from one of the previous years. He had taken her English class his sophomore year. The boy's name didn't ring a bell at first, but now that she _knew_ who he was and what he looked and sounded like, it made things more problematic than she thought.

It was like gazing at the students in her classroom again, knowing that she was coupling with one of the students within their age group. And she couldn't let them know nor find out. She couldn't let _anyone_ know, but here they were, virtually _flaunting_ their relationship in front of this boy.

"How long's it been since the last time we've seen each other?" Graham asked, gesturing toward a ratty looking couch. Emma only smiled and plopped onto the surface as Regina was a bit warier over the piece of furniture, inspecting it thoroughly before finding what appeared to be the cleanest spot next to the blonde, who had pulled her down almost immediately.

"It feels like it's been years," Emma answered, a humored smile when she noticed her girlfriend's reaction.

"Yeah, I know." He readily agreed. "Although, I'll be going back to Storybrooke to see everyone in a couple weeks. It'll feel weird, you know? It's been so long and it feels weird seeing you again."

"Oh, _thanks_."

"No, I don't mean it like that. I just mean- I don't know. Everything seemed to have changed, you know? I'm a college man now and I have a good job; well, kind of a crappy job, but at least it's getting me this apartment. And you… well, you've got yourself a lady." He winked, his eyes momentarily shifting to their intertwined hands. "And she's a quiet one."

"I don't know what's gotten into her… or out of, since she doesn't seem all there." Emma joked, giving a squeeze to Regina's hand, which had the teacher snap out of the little daze she had put herself into to idly pass the time.

"What?"

"You're not talking."

"Oh." The brunette bit her lip, chestnut eyes moving over to the man sitting next to Emma. "I assumed you two would like to catch up, so I decided to stay quiet. I do not wish to intrude."

"You aren't, ma- Ms. Mills-"

"Regina," the older woman corrected. "You can call me Regina. After all, you are not in school any longer and I am Emma's, uh, girlfriend."

"Sorry, Regina." Graham smiled. "But it'd be nice to know what's going on in your classes, you know? Got any interesting, uh- What about- no… Anything interesting happening? Anymore asshole students?"

"Two in particular, yes." The brunette shrugged. "They had decided to rile up a fight with Emma and had ultimately lost."

"Yeah, I gave Jefferson the old decker." Emma smirked, proud of herself, as she held up her fist. "But the motherfucker got me back the next day. What an ass. But Gina was nice and gave me drugs for my black eye."

"Of course, I would rather you not be in pain, dear." Regina quirked a brow. "After all, you stood up for me and I do quite appreciate that."

"Well, I like you, a lot, you know? I don't want to see _you_ hurt, even if it isn't physically." Emma turned her attention to the brunette.

" _Okay_ , awkward." Graham coughed from beside the blonde and stared at the two of them, his brows quirked. "I did _not_ need to see my former teacher act all lovey-dovey; it's really weird."

"Excuse me, but she's _mine_. She's not a teacher when she's with me. So, shove it, you butt." Emma nudged the man's arm.

"Yeah, but-"

"Well, if you two are going to bicker all night, I might as well get heading back to Storybrooke. I have tests to grade."

"You still haven't graded those?"

"I don't have all the time in the-"

"Can we not school talk, please?" Graham wore a smirk on his face and a devilish twinkle in his eye.

"Then why don't you go ahead and catch up? I have no problem sitting here." Regina shifted slightly, crossing one leg over the other, causing her skirt to hitch further up her thigh. She felt Emma's gaze on her stocking-clad legs and that had shot heat immediately to her core.

Regina couldn't help the smirk that began to play on her lips nor the blush that had started to dust her already rouged cheeks. She squeezed her legs together to ease the tingling sensation between them and guided her attention to the large, box TV on a dark, wooden entertainment center to take her mind off it.

Then the two began to talk, reminiscing about this past year and the summers that they had spent together playing video games. Regina had tuned them out, becoming disinterested in how many kills they got for one game, or how many points they had in another, or whatever the hell they were talking about with crafting things from a game with mines in it.

Then they proceeded to step away from the video game subject to going out to the movie theater to catch the latest flick before having a gaming night, or something of the ilk. Or that they went to some restaurant and ate together, which the two of them started to joke about them having dates because they often hit a movie afterwards, then spent most of the night playing video games.

That had something burning in Regina's gut. They had dates? Or at least that's what she had caught from that. She had noticed that they were obviously joking, seeing as to how Emma was clearly into women and Graham saw her as nothing more than a friend, but there was a radar in Regina's brain that got set off over that subject and she saw _green_.

She couldn't see Emma being with someone else; especially a boy. She couldn't imagine her spending so much time with him. He probably knew her better than Regina did, and that really set something else off in the brunette. She really needed to spend more time with the blonde in order to get to know her more, even if some of the things that she had previously told her were things that she hadn't told anyone else. Regina wanted to make up for lost time and ensure that she knew everything that she needed to know about Emma and vice versa.

Then she heard her name being mentioned by Emma, which had caught her full attention. She was speaking of the first day of school and how she was absolutely terrified of going into Regina's classroom because of the rumors her friends had told her. But she was soon captivated by the brunette and needed to stay

Regina had ended up tuning them out once again, her eyes roving over the living area from the boredom she had found herself suffering. They had started to talk about the months and days leading up to today, of course, most of it was vague and boring to Regina's ears. She didn't want to seem mean nor impolite, but she barely knew Graham and she had no interest in his life, and what Emma was telling him, she knew most of except for a few blurbs of her time spent with her other two friends.

Then, as if her prayers had been answered, Graham had spoken those words that she had been waiting for. "It's getting pretty late and I know how long it takes to get back."

"Yeah," Emma muttered forlornly. "Damn, I've missed you. It was nice talking to you again, though."

"You guys should come back and visit. Maybe we can do something more fun, because Regina looked like she was about to fall asleep over there."

That comment had the brunette teacher blushing. So he had noticed that bored glaze in her eyes. She hadn't meant to let it show.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Gina. I didn't mean to make you feel so bored." Emma frowned and brought the older woman's hand up to her lips to press a tender kiss to the top. "And if you don't mind, we could come back again and go out to do something fun. There's a lot more here than there is in Storybrooke, I know for sure."

"I would like that." Regina nodded and stood just as Graham had. She offered him a polite smile and extended a hand, in which he took. "It was quite lovely seeing you again, Graham. I do hope you have a safe time here, yes? And if you do not mind, we may come back and visit you once again."

"That sounds good to me, actually. It gets boring around here when there's no one to hang out with." He smiled and shook her hand. "And it was nice seeing you again, Ms.- Regina. I hope to see you again."

"Oh, I wouldn't doubt that you will, dear." She chuckled and wrapped her arm around Emma's waist.

"Great. Hey, Em!" He turned to the blonde. "Let me know if you two plan on coming down again. I'll even offer myself up as a cover for you."

"I'll make sure." Emma grinned, wrapping her free arm around the man in a quick, tight hug before pulling away. "Thanks again, though, for covering for my ass this weekend."

"Hey, no problem. What are friends for?"

"I would like to thank you as well, Graham. I appreciate that you have done this for us, even if it were just for Emma. It means a lot to me."

"Really, it's no problem. You're welcome and I'd gladly do it again, like I said. You two seem so perfect for each other." Graham turned towards the two of them, making sure to look at each for a few seconds. "I mean; the way you look at each other is just... wow. I haven't seen Emma this happy in the years that I've known her, and by the way she speaks of you, you make her really happy and I'm glad of that. Just don't hurt her, you know? She's had a tough enough life."

"Graham," Emma groaned.

"I won't, Graham. I promise." Regina gazed down to the blonde, a smile of pure admiration on her lips. "We've both been to hell and back. I think we're meant to fix each other."

"You're getting goopy again," he joked. "I'll be having to clean the shit out of the apartment if you continue any longer."

"Oh, don't worry. We're leaving." Emma rolled her eyes and tugged on Regina's hand as she headed toward the door, Graham following behind the two.

"Well, fine. I'll see you guys in a couple of weeks, alright? Open up some time for me, Emma, 'kay?"

"I will, Graham." The blonde giggled. "Don't worry."

"Good." The three of them stood there in a slightly awkward silence for a few moments before he had spoken again, reaching for the door. "Well, I guess this is goodbye."

"Yeah… Goodbye, Graham. I'll see you soon." Emma smiled sadly at her friend and Regina gave a slight grin.

"Goodbye, dear. Take care."

"Yeah, you too. And have a safe trip back."

"Thanks." They both chimed.

After saying their goodbyes, the two of them left the apartment building and rushed toward the parked car, trying their best to avoid the bitter wind nearly blowing them off the sidewalk.

"I hate winter," Emma mumbled as she put her seat belt on and Regina started the car, automatically going for the heater buttons.

"I do, as well. I dislike the cold."

"Me too. And after walking to your house in that goddamn blizzard, I really hate the snow, too."

"You're an idiot," Regina muttered fondly. "But, for some reason, I tolerate it."

"I'm glad you tolerate me."

"Are you ready to return home, dear?" Regina inquired after a few moments of silence on the road.

"Not really, but I know I have to." Emma groaned. "And there's school tomorrow, too, which sucks major ass."

"Tell me about it, dear. I have to get up even earlier than yourself in order to get things completed in the mornings." Regina lamented, her grip tightening on the steering wheel. "And it's a tedious job to grade tests, especially when they're written word."

"Oh, I bet that's a bitch." Emma nodded. "Hey, Gina?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Do you think I could help you with it sometime?"

"Well, not tonight. It _is_ rather late and I'm sure that your mother is worried about where you are."

"No, I know. I just mean sometime. Anytime. I wouldn't mind, just as long as I get to hang out with you." The blonde shrugged and played with her hair.

"We'll see, Emma."

"Cool." She grinned. "What are you doing tomorrow after school?"

"Well, if you are wondering if I will be grading papers, I will be. Would you like to join me?"

"Oh, well I was just going to use you as a ride home, but sure!"

Regina couldn't help but to shake her head, an amused smile on her lips. "I can do both if you wish. I'll kill two birds with one stone."

"Aren't we a little violent?"

"It's a saying, dear."

"I know, but… Gods, can't you just humor me?"

"No," she murmured wryly.

"Sometimes you're a pain in my ass, Gina."

"Yes, well you can be a thorn in my side, Emma dear."

"Oh, _hah-hah_ ," Emma whined playfully and crossed her arms. "I'm not gonna talk to you for the rest of the way there."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Y-" The blonde suddenly stopped before nodding her head.

"Really, Emma? How childish of you."

Her only response was a shrug.

If Emma was truly being serious about not speaking for the rest of the way back, it was going to be a long trip, what with four hours still to go since they hadn't reached the highway quite yet.

"Are you really going to do this?" Regina had asked after several minutes. They were finally on the road back home.

Emma nodded once again, not making a single peep.

 _Yes, this definitely is going to be a long trip_.


	15. The Teacher's Pet

"You can't stay silent for three more hours, Emma. Come on." Regina sighed from the driver's seat, stealing a quick glance toward the blonde who was adamantly remaining quiet with crossed arms.

It had already been an hour into their trip and she hadn't uttered a single word. She knew what she was doing was clearly childish, but the annoyed looks from the brunette and the grunts of irritation that she had made were just too damned entertaining to pass up – especially for this long trip. And she wasn't about to break now. She _would_ stay quiet for the remainder of three hours. There was absolutely _nothing_ that would make her dare to speak.

" _Emma_." Her voice was a defeated sigh, which earned promise and a victorious smile – that was until Regina used her last resort, "I love you."

Now _that_ was harsh and completely unfair. Emma didn't want to leave the older woman hanging with those three words thickening the air. She just couldn't bring herself to keep quiet, because every second that she went without repeating the words back burdened her with a heavy guilt.

" _I love you, too,"_ she whispered. Perhaps if she had done it quietly enough, Regina wouldn't hear her and wouldn't think that she had responded and broken her little quiet game. But, they were in a car after all and the radio had been turned off; no doubt that Regina was waiting for some sort of peep from the blonde.

" _A-ha_! She speaks!" The Benz jerked as the brunette woman had spoken, which ultimately caused Emma to have a mini heart attack when all she saw was the off-road ahead of her. Luckily Regina had straightened them out before they flew off the road.

"Well, I won't any longer if you drive us off the fucking road!" Emma couldn't help but to reprimand, her heart still trying to come down from her throat.

"I'm sorry," Regina whispered, her eyes glued to the road. The smile that she had worn upon Emma's reply beforehand had now disappeared into a downturn of the lips.

When the blonde had gazed over to see how the brunette was doing after taking the recovery from their near off-road adventure, she felt her heart fall from its spot. Did she just make Regina feel that bad by making that comment? She wished she could take it back and shut her mouth. Really, she needed to get this conflict fixed.

"Hey, Gina…" Emma reached over, her hand was gentle on the older woman's thigh. "Don't listen to me. I'm just an idiot, you know this by now, yeah? Sometimes I don't have a filter."

"I am fine, Emma."

Emma narrowed her eyes at the brunette, but she hadn't taken a single glance to the blonde. Nibbling on her lip, she gazed at the traffic around them, noticing there to be quite a few cars, but not enough to damper her new plan.

"Pull over," she quickly muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"Pull over," the blonde repeated herself. Emerald eyes were back on the confused face of Regina's as the older woman reluctantly did what she had instructed.

"I don't know what inane reasoning you have-" But her words were cut off as Emma lunged forward and pressed her lips to her own, taking Regina by complete surprise, which had taken the woman a few heartbeats to register what was happening and even more before she had responded.

When Emma had pulled away, she was met with puzzled, chestnut orbs and parted, crimson lips.

"What was that for?"

"I'm sorry for snapping at you, Gina." Emma said, her voice was hesitant and the hand that still reside on the brunette's thigh was even more so as it lightly stroked the stocking covered skin. "And I really suck at trying to comfort people."

"Please do not fret, my love." Regina rest her hand on the blonde's, stopping its movement. The contact had the hairs on the back of Emma's neck stand on end as pleasant electricity fueled them from her arm. "I don't blame you, dear. I would be, too, if my life were on the line." The smile she wore was soft and her eyes were warm, melting into her cheeks as the corners of her mouth had upturned. "I forgive whatever unnecessary apology that you are giving me just to sate your mind. We do need to get back on the road, especially if someone were to pull over or call another somebody because we are sitting on the side of the highway."

"Thanks. I'm glad you get me." The blonde offered her a sheepish smile and quickly wrapped her arms around the brunette, intending to pull back shortly after, but had found herself entranced by the older woman's sweet perfume and her comforting warmth.

"You'll have to let go, Emma." She heard Regina's voice rumble, arms constricting for one last time around her before releasing. "Come on."

"I don't want to. I like it down here."

"Oh, I know you do, dear." The teasing lilt to her voice sent shivers down Emma's spine. She bit her lip and kept from moving.

"I do, you see. So, that means that you must let me stay down here, because I know you like it, too." That's when she smirked at the way Regina's cheeks had taken a lovely pink shade to them. "And maybe I can do something for you?"

"That is-" Regina's voice trembled as she spoke. "That is inappropriate, dear, and how much that I would like for that to happen, it cannot. I need to concentrate on driving and you need to sit properly in your seat. I do not wish to get pulled over and delay our time home even further."

"Fine," the blonde muttered, sitting up on her side of the bench seat once again, replacing the seat belt across her chest. "But you owe me cuddles when we get back."

"How about I take a rain check, dear?" The brunette pulled back onto the road, starting their journey home once again.

"You can't just-"

"I have to drop you off at your apartment. Hadn't you told your mother that we would be back early? It's already quite late now." Regina cut her off to elaborate.

Emma could only nod in agreement because she knew that it was true.

"Speaking of which, you should call her and tell her that you'll be arriving late. We still have about three hours left in the trip."

"Yeah, problem."

"Problem?"

Emma sucked her lower lip between her teeth and turned her attention to the scenery outside, her face resembling that of a cat who had gotten caught with their paw in the fish tank. "I sort of forgot my phone at home. I realized that when I went to text Mary Margaret yesterday before we got to the hotel. That's why I used yours."

" _Emma_ ," Regina spoke with an exasperated sigh. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Let me borrow your phone again?"

"Just don't text her." The brunette sighed, using one hand to search for her purse on the floor between them. She soon found her mobile device and handed it to Emma.

"Why not?" The blonde quirked a brow, typing in her mother's cellphone number.

"Do you have a house phone?"

"Yeah?" Emma had now turned her full attention to the older woman.

"Does it have caller ID?"

"No. It's super old and we barely use it. Why?" She inquired again, her thumb hovering over the green call button.

"Mary Margaret has my number and I don't think it's a wise idea for you to call her from my cell phone to tell her that you'll be coming back from Boston in under three hours." Regina hastily explained, worried brown eyes on the blonde's hand that held the smartphone.

"Well, why the hell do you have her number?"

"Apparently, I am tutoring you now. In Government."

"Oh, yeah." Emma shrunk in her seat. "Well, I had to make up _some_ excuse why I was gone after school for a couple days and I couldn't have Ruby or Belle cover for me, so I thought this was the safest plan."

"I wish you would have told me, dear. I nearly denied it."

"Thank gods that you didn't."

"You better be thanking your lucky stars." The brunette's lips quirked up. "You need to call your house phone. And get off that screen. You're going to make me have a panic attack because I don't know how to explain my reason for calling her-"

" _Shit,_ " Emma muttered.

" _What_? What shit? _What shit, Emma_? Don't tell me you-"

"I did." The words were hollow coming out of the blonde's mouth, which had earned her a apprehensive stare from Regina.

"You did _not_."

"I-I did!" She wailed, putting the phone on speaker.

"What the _fuck_ am I going to say to her? _Oh gods, it's ringing_." Regina's voice had raised a few octaves as her cellphone rang, the sound deafening in the silence of the car.

"Maybe she won't pick up?" Emma had thrown the phone on the seat between them in her own panic, not trusting herself with the device any longer. She knew she should have exited the screen as soon as Regina had started to ask her questions. But, no, her goddamn thumb had to act on its own accord and press that call button.

"But she'd still return the call," Regina muttered numbly, and as soon as those words had left her lips, the ringing had ceased and a voice was heard.

" _Hello? Ms. Mills?"_

Both Emma and Regina muttered obscenities under their breaths, their hearts pounding wildly in their chests.

" _Regina? Are you alright?"_

"Yes!" Her voice was nearly a squeak as it had escaped her lips. "I do apologize for disturbing you. I must have pressed the wrong number."

" _Oh! That's quite alright! I'm glad that you're alright. It happens all the time to me."_

Regina chuckled, and gods, was it awkward.

"I'm glad that you understand. Again, I am sorry for disturbing you."

" _It's okay! I wasn't really doing anything. I'm just waiting for Emma to get back home. Did she tell you that she was going to see her friend in Boston?"_

"Oh, I do believe she had."

Emma blanched and shrunk further into her seat. Oh, gods, now she was talking about her and going to Boston, and what was she going to tell Regina? Why the hell was she even making conversation with the brunette when clearly Regina had supposedly dialed the wrong number? But that was just like Mary Margaret. Emma loved her dearly as a mother, but boy, did she just get under her skin sometimes. Although, the ill thoughts of her mother had her feeling twice as guilty.

" _I'm a little worried, though. I mean, she went up there alone with him. It's not that I don't trust him, he's a good boy, but… I think they like each other. And she hasn't bothered to call me since she arrived yesterday."_ There was a pause, but it wasn't long enough for Regina to come up with a response. " _I had called her only to realize she left her phone here, though. What a silly girl. I love her. And, oh! Am I sorry for rambling! I'm just so anxious for her to come back, I'm nothing but a bundle of nerves! You said you dialed the wrong number, so I'm sure you're meaning to do something."_

"I am, actually. And do not apologize. I understand your concern. I'm sure that Emma is doing quite fine. She's a brilliant girl, and I have confidence that she knows better than to disobey anything that you might have said."

" _I know. You're right. But it still worries me that she's up there all alone… well, perhaps not, but she's- An-and she hadn't bothered to call or text me."_

"She's a young girl in Boston, and without any parental supervision. I'm sure that it must have slipped her mind to ask her friend for his phone if she had realized hers was gone. Just give her your trust and I'm sure everything will be just fine." The brunette soothed.

" _You're right. I will. But I hope she'll be here soon._ "

"I'm sure she will be, Mary Margaret." Regina clipped, keeping her tone to the point.

" _Right! I'm sorry, I ought to let you go. But, since you're here… I want to ask you something._ "

"What is it?"

" _Will you be tutoring Emma tomorrow afternoon?_ "

"Only if that is alright with you, and Emma herself, of course."

" _Oh, it's fine! I just wanted to know if I should save her a plate for dinner or wait for her."_

"Of course."

" _I suppose I should let you go. I'm sure you have things to do. I will see you at conferences!"_

"Yes. I will see you then, dear. Do have a good night and I hope that your daughter will arrive safely home soon."

" _Thank you, Regina. You have a good night yourself!"_

"Thank you, and goodbye."

" _Buh-bye!"_

And then the line cut.

"Please do not make me go through that again." The brunette teacher took her phone with shaking hands and exited out of the call.

"I'm _so_ sorry. I really am." Emma was quick to apologize, her fingers knitting into blonde curls. "I-I'll definitely make it up to you, I promise."

"You better, my dear." Regina purred, and when the blonde had lifted her gaze with surprise to the brunette's face, she saw a devilish twinkle in brown orbs.

"Tomorrow. I will. Trust me." Emma concluded, her confidence regaining in her words as she spoke them.

There was that smile again on her lips. "I do trust you, dear."

"Well, then, it's a plan. Locked in place."

"Locked in place, indeed." Regina echoed. "Why don't you call your house phone and inform your mother, alright? I assume that she is home, since she had said she was waiting for you."

"Yeah. Let's just hope our phone didn't magically get caller ID or anything." The blonde mumbled, half to herself, as she retrieved the English teacher's cellphone and dialed in her home phone number. She was surprised that she had memorized the damn thing. They rarely had ever used it and she had so many other numbers in her lifetime, it was insane. But she had this one down, especially after the two-hour lecture from Mary Margaret in case of an emergency of some sort.

"Let us hope not, because I do not think I can bear another conversation with your _wonderfully_ chatty mother. She's a nice woman, but she talks a little too much. No offense, dear." Regina kept one eye on the blonde, and she had noticed, for every time she had looked up, she saw the teacher's gaze on her.

"None taken, really. I know what you mean." Emma shrugged. Now, if it were someone else insulting Mary Margaret like that, and without a courteous apology, she would be wailing them to the ground. She really did love her parents and would defend them, if needed, and keep their honor set high.

"I probably shouldn't be saying such a thing, though. It is quite unprofessional, after all." The brunette mended quickly. "Don't get me wrong, I like her; to an extent."

Emma quickly finished typing in her home phone number and set the device on her lap, careful not to call it just yet. "I get it, Gina. It's alright. There are people in life that we meet and that we don't really get along well with. I sorta felt the same when I first met her, and sometimes I still do. She's a little too optimistic for her own good."

"As long as you won't hate me for saying such a thing."

"You're an exception, Gina."

"Well, I am certainly glad to hear that." Emma could literally _hear_ the smile in Regina's voice as she had spoken. It squeezed her heart knowing that she could make the older woman smile the way she did.

"Now, I gotta call her."

"I'll stay quiet, dear."

"Thanks." Emma grinned and quickly leaned forward to press a kiss to the brunette's olive cheek, then proceeded to call the number still displayed on the screen after straightening out in her seat.

* * *

It had taken two and a half hours before their arrival back to Storybrooke, just as Emma had promised her mother when she had called her. When they had crossed the town line, reality had hit the blonde like an elbow to the face. Her weekend trip with Regina was nothing more than that and upon their return, they were back to where they were. They were teacher and student and their relationship had to be, once again, concealed.

That thought had Emma's heart sinking. She wanted to go back to Boston just so she wouldn't have to hide her relationship with her. But, she knew that was something that could not currently happen, so she had to suck it up when Regina spoke.

"Emma, honey, we're here." The older woman's husky voice drew Emma from her thoughts. She whipped her head up to take a glance outside to see that they were, in fact, outside her apartment. It was dark out tonight. The streetlamp wasn't working again, which was fortunate for them since she could see Mary Margaret's silhouette in the loft window.

"Yeah," Emma muttered solemnly. "I should probably get inside before she comes out here, and knowing Mary Margaret, she probably will."

"I suppose you must." The brunette's voice had taken a similar tone and there was a flash of something that crossed over her features before quickly disappearing when she offered a tight smile. "I shall see you tomorrow?"

"Yup! Same time, same place." Emma let a grin stretch across her face as she unbuckled the seatbelt and leaned over to give Regina a tight hug. She nearly melted against the teacher's body when she felt those warm arms embrace her in return. "And I'll bring you something special for lunch to make up for that little talk with my mom."

"I cannot wait to see what it is, dear." The brunette smirked, pulling away from the blonde teenager. "Now, you must hurry. She's no longer standing by the window."

"Oh, shit!" Emma quickly gathered her backpack and opened the passenger's door in a haste to get out. "Better not wait long enough for her to say hello to 'Graham.'"

"Indeed," she chuckled. "So, I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good night, Emma."

"I will, thank you. You, too, you hear?" The blonde twisted her body to give Regina one last smile before sliding out of the vehicle. Her hand was on the door, ready to slam it shut, when she heard a voice from inside.

"And, Emma?"

"Yeah?" She ducked her head down to peek inside the car.

"I love you."

"I love you, too," she whispered breathlessly, an easy smile on her face. She swore she could hear Regina purr at the words.

"Good. Think of me tonight, will you? Think of our time together, because I know I will."

"Oh, I probably won't be able to sleep, I'll be thinking of it too much." Emma's cheeks burned.

"Good."

The blonde smirked. "But for now, I gotta go because I'm scared Mary Margaret will come down here."

"Yes. You're right. Have a good night, darling."

"For the twentieth time," she mumbled, but forced a smile on her lips when Regina gave her a quirked brow. " _You_ have a good night. And-I'm-closing-this-door-before-you-can-say-anything-else-to-prolong-my-staying-out-here." Emma quickly shut the door and whipped around to head toward her apartment, only to run into her mother who had just opened the outside door as Regina pulled off.

"Is Graham not going to stay?"

"He wants to get back before midnight. He has a class tomorrow." Emma shrugged nonchalantly.

"Oh. That's a shame. I wished he would have stuck around long enough so I could say hi to him." Mary Margaret wore a slight pout, but it had quickly disappeared as the two began to walk inside. "So, how was your trip? You should tell me all about it!"

Emma internally groaned as she followed her mother up the stairs and into their apartment where an awaiting David stood in the kitchen.

"Emma! It's good to see you back!" He greeted with a kind smile. "We've missed you!"

"I've missed you both, too-"

"Emma was just going to tell us about her trip!" Mary Margaret interrupted, guiding her blonde daughter over to the living room. David had pushed himself away from the counter to follow, both wearing large, anxious smiles.

"Oh, was she now?" Emma's father grinned, perching on the couch next to his wife. The blonde, herself, took the chair next to it.

"Yeah, I guess."

"So, tell us, what did you do?" Mary Margaret chirped happily.

Emma ran her fingers through her hair, trying to hold back any of the guilt that she had been feeling since she had first lied to her parents about Boston. At least she could replace 'Regina' with 'Graham' when she spoke of what they had done.

"Did you buy a new perfume?" David leaned forward with a curious gaze, his nostrils flaring.

"David! I asked her a question first." His wife gave a slight whine, but she had also bent towards the blonde to give her a whiff. Her brows furrowed. "But, _did_ you buy new perfume?"

 _No. No I didn't. That's Regina's perfume you're smelling that had somehow infused itself into my clothing after spending the weekend with her_.

"Yes and no. Graham gave it to me as a birthday gift."

"Well, that certainly was nice of him." Mary Margaret grinned, elbow bumping her husband. "Wasn't it, David?"

"Yeah," he mumbled.

"Now, I hope you two didn't do anything you weren't supposed to."

" _Mom_." The blonde groaned and wiped her face with her hands. Of course, she would ask that, and at least Emma could answer her honestly, because the question orbited around Graham.

"What? It's a serious question to ask."

"No. Graham and I are literally just friends. I just really wish you would stop asking. He has a girlfriend, I think. Or a boyfriend. Someone that _isn't_ me!" Emma lay limp in her chair.

"You don't know?" Mary Margaret quirked a suspicious brow.

"No. He said something about it, but we were talking about other stuff after that and I forgot. Now can we just drop it? There's nothing between us."

"Well, I thought, since you would be moving in with him-"

"I thought the only reason you let me go on this trip was because we were just friends?" Emma dropped her hands onto her lap, avoiding the meticulous stare given to her by David when he next spoke.

"We did. At least, I had. Your mother was worrying all weekend over it. She had even told your teacher she was worried about you two." He husked, bringing a hand up to stroke his wife's back when she began to deny what he had just said.

"What do you mean? Why would she talk to one of my teachers about it?"

"Your English teacher, Ms. Mills, she called here by accident and I may have said some things. It was earlier today, really, it was before you had called. Strange, is it?"

"Yeah…" The blonde bit her lip as memories of that conversation had relived in her head. She remembered nearly every word of it and the stiff, panicked way that Regina had responded to the babbling Mary Margaret on the other line.

"What did you- What did you tell her?" The blonde asked quietly. She was curious as to what her mother would come up with if she weren't to tell the entire truth of the conversation.

"That I was just worried about you being in Boston all by yourself. She seemed to be quick to defend your actions, though. But I assume she's a mother, also, and maybe more experienced. She's as old as me, after all." The pixie-haired woman quickly elaborated.

And her words had struck Emma, causing her heart to stammer in her chest. That was true. Reality had, once again, slapped her in the face. Her teacher, her _girlfriend_ , was as old as her mother. Mary Margaret and David were twenty-seven and thirty, respectively, and that had brought a whole new terror to the blonde. What would they even say if they had ever found out about their relationship? Regina was nearing thirty while Emma would be just starting her life.

"Emma?" Mary Margaret's hand found itself on Emma's knee and the blonde jumped slightly, her emerald orbs immediately darting to her brunette mother. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah. I was just thinking." Emma stuttered, rapidly trying to erase all burdening thoughts so she could think more clearly.

"Did you hear what I said?" She asked, tilting her head with brows creased in concern.

"I did. Yeah. And she doesn't have any kids, but she's like a big mom when people are actually nice to her." Emma's voice was nothing but a sigh.

"Oh. I thought she would be married by now or something. But I guess that I believe everyone should be married by my age since I am." The small brunette shrugged and offered Emma a sheepish smile. "I hope she finds a nice man, if she hasn't already. She's a really nice woman. I just hope, as I've heard you tell me, that her reputation with the students in the school won't ruin her image."

"She's attractive. She won't have any problems." Emma found herself saying, but immediately wanting to slap herself afterwards.

But, luckily, Mary Margaret had thought nothing of it and readily agreed. "She is. Any man would be lucky to have her."

 _Yeah, but she wouldn't want any man._

"I'm sure." Emma muttered, hoping that Mary Margaret would soon drop the subject. She really didn't like lying to her mother, and if they continued about how Regina would be suitable with any _bachelor_ in town, well, she might as well shoot herself.

" _Anyways_!" The pixie-haired woman suddenly said, jolting David upright in his spot. "How was your trip? What did you guys do?"

"I can honestly say that I enjoyed every minute of my trip." Emma smiled tentatively. "We went to the Paramount to watch a show and ate at the restaurant next to it. But that had its own entertainment."

"How so?" David queried before his wife could ask.

"There was a problem with two tables there. Two separate parties, I mean." The blonde began. Since she honestly hadn't anything else to tell them that she wanted them to know, she might as well satisfy them with her and Regina's troubles. Also, that would be a great way to know how her parents would react to such a thing.

"What happened?" That was Mary Margaret this time.

Emma told the story, leaving it vague so she wouldn't have any difficult questions to answer from the two. "Then the manager came over."

"Oh, my!" The brunette gasped, David frowning in response. "What did the manager say?"

"Well, the middle-aged couple said that there was a problem and it was the two women and their relationship and that they should be kicked out of the restaurant for disrupting their meal. The manager, I think, asked the women what was wrong and they just told it how it went."

"Did those assholes get thrown out?" David's gruff voice finally spoke beside Mary Margaret.

"Yeah! They were really nice to the women and I heard that they got their meals for free." Emma concluded, a smile on her face. David seemed to be satisfied with that, but his wife looked indifferent.

"Well, that's very nice of them, indeed. I'm glad that they put those rude people in their place." Mary Margaret finally spoke and Emma could have wept. "I'm glad that there are still decent human beings on this earth."

"Me too. I probably would have kicked someone's ass if they would have kicked those women out. I mean, it's wrong to judge people for liking a certain gender, right?" Emma shrugged, leaning back in her seat with her backpack sat uncomfortably on her lap.

"You're correct, sweetheart." The pixie-haired brunette agreed, giving her daughter a look of concern. "Are you alright, dear?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm just tired and cramped up from sitting in the car for more than four hours." The blonde shrugged.

"Why don't you go upstairs and rest, okay?" David suggested. "You have school tomorrow and we don't want you to be too exhausted."

"Yeah, because that's a shame." Emma muttered underneath her breath, preparing herself to get up.

Both her parents stood as well, each giving her a hug and a kiss on the forehead.

"Listen to your father, honey. You look tired." Mary Margaret gave her a soft smile before kissing her on the forehead once again. "Have a good night's sleep and we'll see you tomorrow, okay? And don't let that phone keep you up all hours of the night."

"It won't, _mom_."

"Alright, would you like me to pick you up after your tutoring session? I heard that it is going to be chilly tomorrow and the wind will be picking up."

"Uh, I can walk home, or else Ms. Mills can give me a ride if it's too cold. I'll be fine."

"If you're sure, dear."

"I am. Don't worry." The blonde shrugged.

Satisfied, her mother nodded and gave Emma a hug once more. "Why don't you run off to bed, alright? You need your rest. We can talk more tomorrow after you return home."

"Alright." Emma mumbled as she slowly inched her way toward the stairs. "Goodnight, guys."

"Goodnight, sweetheart."

"Goodnight, honey."

It wasn't long before Emma was up the stairs and stripped to her undergarments and hidden underneath the sheets of her bed. She wasn't exactly as tired as she had claimed to be, but she could do with the extra sleep, and she already wanted to see Regina's smile again.

* * *

For the life of her, she could just _not_ take her eyes off that woman. The way she glided elegantly across the room in her black pumps to the way her hips swayed from side to side as she moved down the aisle, her perfect raven hair bouncing with each step. Emma took every opportunity that she had to keep her eyes glued to the English teacher, not wasting a single second.

All she could think about while watching the brunette was that night in Boston. And by thinking about that night, she could imagine Regina wearing nothing but what she was born in and the noises that she had made when Emma touched her in the right places. Just so much as thinking about that made the blonde hot and bothered, and she could tell that she was having the same effect on the brunette herself.

Emma hadn't been sure at first, merely passing off the rosy cheeks or the awkward way she had tucked a piece of hair behind her ear for something else, but then she had _stuttered_ and Regina Mills _never_ stuttered during class.

Regina had started in the front of the classroom, her body leaning against the podium to relieve the pressure on her feet from the heels. There was a PowerPoint presentation displayed on the Smartboard as she read from it, the notes they were to be taking for the chapter.

"I do recommend that you take these notes and wisely. You never know what will be on the test, and it's-" Then she had trailed off, her jaw slack as dark orbs met with Emma's light ones. Her entire face had instantly turned a lovely shade of pink, and even more so as she had tried to complete her thought, and coherently at that. "It's, uh, it's very important to know this, uh, in-information when you do an assignment. It's the key to success, please keep that in mind."

The students had noticed the blip in her speech, and they had even more so expressed their thoughts to one another. Emma amusingly caught parts of the conversational theories going on around her, but chose to ignore most comments. But, soon, the collective whispering had turned into a soft buzz about the classroom that had the brunette teacher attempting to speak over the din.

" _Can we quiet down, please?_ " But that hadn't seemed to phase them, or at least they just hadn't heard Ms. Mills' voice over their own.

Emma kept her eyes on Regina as she walked toward her desk, a hand pressed against her forehead. That had the blonde frowning. Did she have a headache? She always seemed to have one by lunchtime.

"Hey, are you gonna be alright?" Emma murmured to the brunette who had popped the lid off her pill bottle now and threw back a couple capsules.

"I have a migraine." Regina replied, leaning against her desk as she faced Emma. "I believe I just have one constant migraine that never goes away and worsens each class period."

"Damn."

"Damn is correct and it's only getting worse." She whispered, her eyes clouding with moisture. "I just wish that they would _shut the fuck up!_ " Regina's words were much louder this time, extending to the entire classroom. Her distressed voice had everyone at a standstill and Regina with wide eyes for the salty language that she had let slip.

Emma had a strong urge to take the older woman into her arms just then. She looked as if she were about to burst into tears at any given moment. But she knew that she couldn't until it was lunchtime. Hopefully, everyone would opt to remain quiet for now on. They had pushed Ms. Mills to her absolute limit and Emma knew how terrible migraines could get, and how irritable they could make someone if they couldn't rest.

"Thank you," she muttered, retaking her place back at the front of the room. "I would appreciate it if you would so kindly keep the noise level down. We do not have much time until the end of the semester and we need to finish the last chapters before the time arrives. These items _will_ be on the finals."

When silence was met in reply, she gave a slight nod.

"Is everyone finished with this slide?"

No one had protested when she tapped the board for the next slide of notes to show up. The remainder of the class had progressively gotten better and had seemed to pass by quickly, which had Emma thanking whatever higher deity.

As soon as the last student had left the room and the door had clicked shut, Emma popped out of her seat and gave Regina – who had been standing by her desk now – a tight squeeze.

"I've been waiting to do that all period." She muttered, a sheepish smile on her face. "It looked like you really needed one."

"I did, thank you, darling." Regina's visage melted into something sweet as she returned the hug with a snug grip. "Can I have a kiss to make me feel better?"

"Of course." Emma purred, pulling slightly back to give the brunette woman a smile. Regina had the same look on her face and appeared to be much more at ease than she had been the hour prior, but there was still a spark of something in her eyes that indicated that the migraine still wasn't gone.

"Thank you," she whispered, her lips ghosting slightly over Emma's own before fully pressing against them in a slow, tender kiss. The blonde had eagerly responded, her eyes slipping shut as she let the electricity course through her body and take over every sense.

As they breathlessly pulled away, tongues licking lips, Emma couldn't help the heat burning her cheeks, painting them a rosy pink. "You're welcome."

Regina chuckled richly, pulling the blonde tighter against her body in another embrace. They stay like that for a few moments, the brunette humming a softly into Emma's ear before finally whispering.

"I really, truly care for you, Emma, and I hope that my feelings toward you won't scare you away. I do understand if they do and you do not-"

Emma quirked a brow at the brunette's inane rambling, a slow smirk creeping on her face. She was still voicing her insecurities. Of course, Emma could understand that, since she had her own, but didn't everybody?

"Regina," she whispered calmly, finding the older woman's hand to lace their fingers together. "I won't walk away from this, Gina. Please, trust me on this."

"I know, dear. I just have too much going through my mind right now and I am utterly stressed out. It's no wonder that I have this terrible migraine. I just cannot keep my mind off anything, and most of everything that pops into my brain is you." Regina pulled away from the blonde to sink into her rolling chair, although trying her best to keep their hands together.

"Then I'll help you relax in any way that I can. How about a neck massage or something?" Emma suggested, her free hand's fingers skittering lightly across Regina's exposed upper back before disappearing underneath raven locks to continue up the nape of her neck. "And maybe a cold, damp paper towel will help the pain. I can turn the lights off in here on my way back in."

"Emma, you don't-"

"Yes, I do. It's my job to take care of you, isn't it? You have done the same for me. Just let me do this, okay? You still have two periods left and your head will only get worse." The blonde shook her hand from Regina's to quickly guide her feet toward the door before the brunette woman could protest. "I'll be back, then we can eat."

And with that, Emma had scurried out of the room as fast as she could to avoid any arguments from Regina. She quickly made do with a paper towel from the women's bathroom and dampened it underneath cool water. That should work for now and help ease some of Regina's migraine, or so she hoped. Cold and dark always helped her.

When she returned to the room, Emma had flicked the lights off, which had earned a slight gasp from across the room. The blonde nearly chuckled to herself as she made her way toward the teacher's desk, weaving through the smaller desks until she had reached Regina once again.

"Hey, baby. I tried to hurry." Emma offered her a small lilt of the lips. "Why don't you put this on your forehead, or all of your face if you need to, and I'll get the special lunch I promised."

"Well, I am certainly anxious to see what you have to offer." Regina mumbled after slapping the soggy paper towel on her forehead in a bunch.

"I hope you'll like it. I made it all by myself this time. It's not a day old from the diner."

The blonde made haste with grabbing her backpack and bringing it over to Regina's desk, setting it on top of a few papers. The brunette watched her with curious eyes as Emma unzipped the bag and brought out a container with two plastic wrapped sandwiches, two small bags of potato chips, and a package of snack cakes for a makeshift dessert. She set the container, opened, on Regina's lap before pulling out two bottles of apple juice and handing one to the brunette who seemed to struggle trying to hold a sandwich and keep the container from falling.

"Well, this certainly looks delicious, dear." She commented, her voice a stressed grunt after finally putting the items on her desk. "What kind of sandwiches did you make?"

"Take a bite and find out."

"As long as it isn't fish, I am perfectly fine." Regina muttered, concentrating on trying to remove the sandwich from the copious amount of plastic wrap that Emma had put on it. Finally, after a few grunts and a curse or two later, the brunette tossed the balled up plastic wrap into the trash and took a bite of the sandwich itself.

"Peanut butter and jelly?" She blinked, licking jelly from her lips. "What…"

"But I made it. All by myself. It's special, isn't it?" Emma smiled innocently, bits of the sandwich's contents smeared across her lips.

"Of course, it is, dear." Regina's visage immediately melted upon sight of Emma's smile. "You've got yourself all messy, darling."

"I'm a messy eater. Sorry." Emma chuckled softly, taking another bite of her sandwich. "Maybe you can clean me up?"

"Oh, I most definitely wouldn't mind." Regina growled, daintily nibbling on her bread.

"Alright!" That was when the blonde stuffed the rest of her sandwich into her mouth and attempted to chew the large ball of bread and gooey peanut butter.

It had made Regina utterly speechless, and by speechless, she was completely immobile. Her jaw was slack and her brown eyes were wide as they followed every movement that the blonde had made thereafter. And Emma just _laughed_.

"I'm also disgusting. I hope it's not a turn off."

" _Holy_ \- Emma." Regina managed to squeak, one hand dropping onto her lap as the other still froze in air. "Th-that was _half a sandwich_ that you just stuffed into your mouth."

"I don't do it often, but I wanted you to lick me." Emma tightly crossed her arms over her chest, emerald eyes dropping playfully to the ground.

" _Emma_." Regina brought her hand over to Emma's cheek, fingertips gracing the pale flesh. "I will lick you regardless. But I do not want you to choke on your food to quicken things up. If you wanted me- You could have just said, alright? You do know that I will do _anything_ for you at _any time_ you wish."

"You would?"

"Of course, honey." The brunette flashed that perfect smile of hers, melting Emma's heart like an ice cube in a mug of coffee. Then she was tilting her head up, her little pink tongue slipping from between her plump, red lips to slide across the blonde's pale, rose ones. Emma shuddered as pleasant tingles shot straight to her core, heat pooling in her lower belly at the thought of where else exactly that tongue had been.

"You taste yummy with that peanut butter and apple jam on your lips, dear. Or should we say that the sandwich tastes yummier with _you_ mixed in it." Regina purred against the blonde's lips. "I can think of a place where it would taste even more delicious."

Emma's breath hitched at the thought of where Regina was insinuating. The way her voice had dropped a couple of octaves had the blonde's skin crawling and had caused funny things to happen to her insides. Oh, gods, her heart felt as if it were going to explode the way that it had sped up like that.

And when Regina had found her lips with her own, she thought her _head_ was going to explode. It felt so wonderful, and the way that their lips seemed to mold so perfectly together was something of its own. She felt the brunette's body rise from her spot in the chair and it press tightly against Emma's lower half, pinning her to the desk behind them. Olive toned fingers toned curled into blonde tendrils, using her grip to tilt Emma's head to the side, deepening the kiss. Emma couldn't stop the moan that emanated in her throat, feeling something reverberate against her lips.

"Did you get all the peanut butter off?" Emma murmured after the two had broken apart, tilting her head ever so slightly.

"I do believe- oh, wait!" Regina dove forward and quickly laved her tongue across Emma's chin and cheek, the corners of her own mouth tilting upwards into a devious smirk. "Now I did."

A blush crept up the blonde's neck from the older woman's action, causing her to fidget in her spot and look anywhere but at the brunette in front of her.

"That's good."

"Indeed. I might have to swing by the store after school today to pick up some peanut butter." The brunette took her seat and bit into her sandwich once again, although, now, it had been crushed in her hand as jam oozed between her fingers. Emma had noticed, but Regina seemed to not, or she hadn't cared enough to take any actions.

"Uh, you sort of got some-"

"What, darling?"

"You've got some jam on your fingers, there."

"Oh, I know." Regina smirked, finishing off her sandwich with a few swift bites.

"You're- I know what you're doing." Emma narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms as if it were to be effective, although it had only made her look like an angry toddler.

"I am sorry that I had ever insinuated anything, then, dear." The brunette let her brows fly up for a moment before turning to crack open the bottle of apple juice.

"H-Hey! Wait." Emma squawked and made a grab for the teacher's sticky hand, bringing it soon up to her mouth to press a kiss to the back of it. "You taste like apples all over the damn place."

"Well, I do believe that is obvious since I have apple jam all over my fingers."

"Okay, smart ass." The blonde rolled her eyes playfully. "I meant _before_ you had it on you. I think your apples are turning you into an apple."

"Well, that certainly is interesting, isn't it?" Regina watched as Emma trailed her tongue across the sun kissed skin, cleaning up spots of the jam there. Then she stopped by her index finger and licked between it and her thumb before taking the digit into her mouth to give it a good clean.

Emma could feel the brunette's heated gaze on her and the way that she shifted ever so slightly, attempting to press her thighs together. And the way that she had moaned when the blonde had shifted to her middle finger sent shivers down her spine and that aching throb between her own legs.

"They still smell faintly of you, don't they, dear?" Regina whispered, her eyes following every movement that Emma had made, her lower lip getting sucked into her mouth every so often and that tongue coming out to wet them beforehand.

Although, her words had made Emma pause and pull Regina's hand slightly away from her mouth. "What?"

"And I just _could not_ help but to take every chance that I got to remind myself of what we did."

"You're naughty." The sly look on the blonde's face could not be hidden.

All Emma could picture at that moment was Regina in class and the way she seemed to keep scratching her nose or lean against the podium with her hands by her face. That woman must have been taunting her then, or at least took some joy in watching Emma in the back of class with her scent. Whatever it may be, that woman was quite wicked and undeniably sexy.

"I know I am, love. You really have no idea what I hide. But you'll soon find out." And that _wink_ that she gave sent Emma's heart fluttering.

"I think I'm terrified to find out."

"Oh, I don't think you will be, Emma." Regina offered her a subtle smirk.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. You'll just have to wait and see, dear. But, I'll have to grade the remaining tests beforehand." The brunette stuffed the remaining food in the container and shoved it into Emma's backpack. "Think you can handle the wait?"

"As long as I'm with you, I can wait for anything." Emma smiled, although it didn't quite reach her eyes, as she slung her bag over her shoulder.

"Well, if you're so sure." Regina stood, pressing a kiss to the blonde's cheek. "I'll see you after school, then. Take care, Emma, and have a good rest of the day."

"I'll try. Thanks, Gina. I, uh, I'll see you, yeah?" Emma quickly pecked Regina's lips just as the bell rang. Both made a noise of displeasure before the teacher replied.

"Yes, my swan."

Emma couldn't help the grin that easily spread across her face as she left the classroom, but not before giving Regina one last glance, in which was returned by the sweetest smile that could have very much given her cavities.

As she made her way to her Government class in Mr. Glass' room, she just couldn't seem to erase the damned smile from her lips. She was anxious about what Regina had planned for her later that day. The next two periods would probably drag on with just her luck. Time was never fast enough when there was something she wanted to do.

* * *

After what had felt like more hours than it needed to be, the day was finally over. The brunette was outside the classroom, waiting with her purse, a few folders, and a warm smile when the blonde finally managed to find her way there. Emma immediately returned the smile and paced the distance in haste to reach the awaiting teacher.

"Sorry it took me so long."

"It had only taken you a couple of minutes, dear. And, besides, I was able to make a large dent in the tests. There are now less to grade, so that means more time to spend with you, dear. But there's bad news." Regina spoke as the two headed outside and to the Mercedes parked by the other staff cars.

"Bad news?" Emma frowned, ducking her head to enter the passenger's side. Regina only nodded and handed the blonde the folders that she had in her hand before closing the door and rounding the vehicle.

"I found a neat stack of ungraded writing assignments from, I do believe, last week." The brunette muttered disdainfully as she started the car, soon after pulling out of the parking lot. "I'll have to at least make a dent on that tonight."

"Damn. Can I help with something?"

"You can't grade the papers, or the written part of the tests, so there really isn't much. Perhaps we can see about the multiple choice. Alright?"

Emma shifted slightly in her spot and nodded. "Alright."

"And that will let me at least get a start on the papers." The brunette concluded, parking the Mercedes in the driveway. "I want to at least get the tests done before anything, alright? I have things planned if you do not mind."

"'Course not. If I get to spend my time in the same vicinity as you, I am perfectly fine." Emma said as she and Regina exited the car and headed toward the house.

The blonde was nearly shivering by the time they had entered the house. It was damned cold out there and sitting in the car hadn't helped much. Thankfully Regina didn't keep it too cold in her home, or too hot for that matter. It was the perfect temperature and Emma was thankful for that.

"Perfect. Would you like anything to drink or eat before we sit down?" Regina shrugged her pea coat off and hung it up in a little closet by the stairs. She had Emma remove her red leather jacket to hang up as well before taking her hand and leading her to the sitting room after the blonde had murmured a negative response.

"Come, my dear, we shall sit and grade papers."

"Oh, joy."

"Welcome to the life of a teacher." The brunette chuckled, taking a seat on the cream couch, her purse hitting the floor next to her feet and the folders on the coffee table in front of her. Emma gladly occupied the space next to her and immediately got handed a sleek, black folder and a red ballpoint pen.

"I have the answer key on the front of the stack. There should be one class period's tests left which, if I am not wrong, will be underneath the key bound with a paperclip. You may check the other stacks in case I had missed any, but as far as I know, those are the only ones that are left." The teacher explained as Emma opened the folder and removed the stacks of paper from inside.

As she looked over the tests to make sure that the brunette was correct, Regina began pulling out the papers from her classes' writing assignments. She had also gained a red ballpoint pen and started to read through the paper on the top of the first stack. Emma, on the other hand, had started to grade the very first paper.

When she had checked what was incorrect and finished up with that, she proceeded onto the second page and did the same thing, and continued with that for the rest of the answers until she hit the page where the short answers had come into play. She set that test aside and picked up the next, becoming concentrated with her work now.

It really wasn't so bad and quite easy at that. Perhaps she could help Regina often with grading tests. She wouldn't mind and it would be a lot quicker if she were to do this part, especially if there were no written response questions; although on Regina's tests, that was quite the impossibility.

Luckily, it had seemed like no time before she was done grading the tests in that stack, and ones that she had found that had been left ungraded. Seeing that there weren't any more tests to be graded, she kicked back on the couch and watched as the brunette teacher read through the written responses on the tests.

Emma wanted so desperately to touch her, but she knew that the older woman was concentrated and needed to be so to finish her work. But, gods, did she look just so goddamn _tempting_. The blonde, for the most part, tried to keep her hands to herself, but let her eyes roam over the brunette's hunched form. She had spent what felt like hours watching Regina sift through the papers, stacking the finished ones beside her.

Emma knew how many assignments were in that stack and she also knew how many that the teacher had gone through, and it seemed as if things weren't getting done fast enough. Boy, did she wish that Regina would allow her to grade the written bits of the tests, because this sure as hell would be going by faster. But, it didn't work that way, and there were still about seventeen more tests to grade before they were freed and allowed to spend time together doing something other than work for school.

Emma flopped on the couch beside Regina, grunting with each movement. She could feel the older woman pause her work momentarily before shooting her an annoyed glare, then go back to grading the assignments splayed before her on both the couch and coffee table.

The blonde huffed slightly and shifted once again, bringing her legs up underneath herself to lean her body toward Regina. It felt as if it had taken them three hours to get that far, even though she knew her brain was exaggerating, but it still had felt as if it had been forever and the blonde was absolutely bored out of her skull. Why wasn't there a machine that could grade papers, instead?

In her new position, she attempted to brush raven strands aside to expose olive toned skin. Leaning even further, she pressed her lips to the soft flesh and started to trace patterns up and down the side of her neck.

Regina's breath hitched upon contact, and tilted her head slightly to the opposite side, allowing Emma more access to the tanned flesh. The blonde couldn't help but to smirk against the older woman's skin. She was giving in. She must be just as bored and done with this work as she was.

"Emma," the brunette hummed, "we can't do this. I need to get work done."

"Oh, come on! It's boring as hell." The blonde slightly pouted, but hadn't ceased her peppering kisses.

"I need to get these graded." Regina tried to straighten herself and continue to read the answers on the current page in her hand. But Emma, ever relentless, shifted onto her knees and swung one leg across Regina's own, ending up with a straddle on her lap. The brunette had gasped with surprise at the sudden movement and snapped her head up to meet Emma's emerald gaze.

"Please, baby?" Emma bent her head down to capture the older woman's lips with her own. Regina had hesitated before returning the kiss and the blonde could feel the reluctance. But when she had made a home of the teacher's lap and pressed her mouth hungrily against the plump red ones, she felt all sense of indecision melt away.

Regina had now eagerly slid her mouth against Emma's, her tongue slipping out to taste the teenager's pale lips. Her fingers dug pleasantly into the blonde's sides as the latter had tugged at brunette locks, earning a soft squeak.

But then Emma was off Regina's lap before she knew it and looked up, dazed, at the brunette who now stood above her. Excitement shot straight to her core at the possibilities running through her head that the teacher might plan on doing next. All those core-burning thoughts immediately quenched upon seeing the brunette grab her purse and gesture toward the stairs.

* * *

" _Fuck, fuck… Gina… I-I'm… I'm gonna…_ " Emma couldn't form the right words to say when her peak had hit her suddenly like a semi. Her hips bucked up one last time, slamming painfully into Regina's own, and her teeth sinking into tanned flesh. She didn't know how hard, and barely cared, until she tasted blood and heard the sharp gasp from the brunette who had slowed her fingers to a sudden halt.

Then the two were soon slumped against the bed, Regina felt like a dead weight on top of the blonde who was already struggling enough to breathe with her heart rapidly thrumming against her chest like a jackhammer.

"I hope you do realize, that that bite-"

"Was too hard?" Emma frowned as she had noticed crimson trickling from the fresh wound on Regina's shoulder.

"No." The brunette lifted her brown gaze to meet with emerald, pink lips curving upwards. "It made me come again, my dear."

"No shit?"

"You are just amazing with your mouth, Emma. You are." She complimented, her voice husky, yet breathless, as she removed the little vibrator and switched it off before tossing it onto her nightstand.

"What can I say? It got me this far in life." Emma shrugged, a smug smile on her face.

"Well, I certainly am glad, dear." Regina laughed, light and airy, as she brushed a strand of golden hair behind Emma's ear. "Because that means you're here and I have you all to myself."

"Yeah. And I have you. I'm super glad that the Nolans took me in."

"I am, too, darling." The brunette bent her head down slightly to press a kiss to the blonde's forehead, then moved down to peck her nose before sealing a kiss on her lips. Emma returned the kiss almost instantly, melting into the older woman as if she were her haven.

"I love you, Emma Swan."

"I love you too, Regina Mills." The blonde's words were said on a yawn and she blushed, opening her mouth to apologize but Regina had interrupted her with a chuckle.

"Sounds like someone is worn out."

"Sure as hell am."

"Why don't you take a small nap, dear? I ought to clean up this blood and change before I can join you, if you don't mind?"

"Aw, I can wait?"

"If you wish, dear." The brunette chuckled and gave Emma a quick kiss on the lips before rolling off her and the bed to stand at the side with a warm smile. "I'll be back soon, okay?"

"Okay." Emma nodded and watched as Regina picked up a few things from the floor and headed off through one of the doors. That was the last thing the blonde had seen before she dozed off.

Emma had woken up what felt like only five minutes later to a lamp light and scribbling. When she shifted, she felt the weight of Regina's comforters wrapped around her and saw the woman responsible sitting crisscrossed on the opposite side with a pen in her hand and her black, thick framed glassed resting halfway down the bridge of her nose.

The blonde rapidly blinked her eyes, trying to shove the drowsiness away, and sat up, bringing the covers with her. It was chilly in here now that she had absolutely nothing on and Regina wasn't necessarily sharing the blankets with her. She was sitting on them, which aroused a problem, since only half the blankets went up with Emma. The blonde sat awkwardly, watching as the brunette read a piece of paper on her lap with a stack of papers underneath it.

"How long have I been out?"

"About an hour." Regina answered without taking her eyes off the paper.

"Didn't you nap, too?"

"No." The brunette pulled her glasses off and turned her head toward the blonde, a brow quirked. "You were snoring not a minute after I went to change. So, I decided to do all my chores quietly and try to finish grading these papers. I've got most of them done except for three."

"I'm sorry I fell asleep." Emma mumbled, lowering her head. "I normally don't fall asleep so fast."

"It's fine, my swan. You were exhausted. Just be happy that you won't have to sit through an hour of watching me grade tests." Regina offered Emma a lopsided smile. "Why don't you come over here and snuggle me while I finish these off? Then we can get you home."

"What? I don't want to go home." The blonde's tone was petulant now as she crawled over to Regina and hooked an arm around her waist, her chin sitting on the woman's shoulder.

"You must, Emma. Your mother will be worried if you do not arrive soon. It's almost seven-thirty now. I don't think it would be appropriate if you were tutoring with me for this long." Regina explained soothingly, rubbing the blonde's back in slow, circular motions.

Emma nodded and sighed without any further argument. She knew that she couldn't stay here late at all. It was strange enough that she was tutoring with Ms. Mills for _government_ , but arriving home so late at night was even more so.


	16. How Much Can't Could A White Girl Can't

It wasn't until the week before winter break when Emma had finally completed the portrait of Regina. To the blonde teenager's discontent, they weren't supposed to work on the project right away and when it _was_ completed, she couldn't take it home until the entire class had finished.

By the time she had it in her room, sitting in its shiny new frame, it was Thursday night and Regina was busy with work. The thought of leaving it home and convincing Regina to wait for her as she would quickly run and grab it had crossed her mind, then, which was exactly what she had done the following day.

Fourth period was over and Regina was waiting by her desk for Emma to assume her place. The blonde pulled out the paper bag and two bottles of juice from her backpack before heading over to the teacher's desk and setting the items down. Regina offered her a smile before her it melted in her confusion.

"Are you not going to sit today, Emma?" she asked.

"Actually," Emma started, a light pink tinting her cheeks as she played with one of the juices, "I finished that drawing of you."

"You did?" She seemed momentarily confused before surprise etched on her features. "I forgot that you were working on that, dear. I assumed that you had given up."

"Never." Emma quickly said.

"Where is it?" This time, Regina seemed to have taken a much darker tone to her cheeks and that had the blonde smirking, although she tried to hide it from the brunette's wandering chestnut orbs.

Emma bit her lip and played with a blonde lock of hair, twirling it around her finger. "At my house. I have to go get it. I didn't want to carry that thing around all day."

"Oh, you shouldn't walk out in this weather, honey." Regina frowned, looking up at the blonde who stood on the other side of her desk. "It snowed this morning. I don't think it's a wise idea."

"But I want you to see it." Emma pouted and took a step away from the brunette's desk. "You were busy yesterday when I finally got the frames."

"Emma." She looked conflicted for a moment, then quickly stood from her chair and grabbed the pea coat that was draped on the back of it.

Emma stopped. "What are you doing?"

With a playful roll of her eyes, Regina shrugged the coat on and grabbed the purse underneath her desk. "If you're going to be so persistent upon walking to your house to grab a drawing to show me, the least I can do is drive you. I do not want you to get sick. That would really tamper with my plans for you."

Emma's heart fluttered as she watched the brunette teacher walk passed her to the door. "Are you coming?" she asked, opening said door.

"What about lunch?"

"You can grab it, if you feel so inclined. Be sure to turn the lights off. I'll lock the door." Then she walked into the hallway.

Emma quickly grabbed their lunches without protest and rushed out the door after her teacher. Regina was already halfway down the hall by the time the blonde had turned the lights off. Her hips were swaying in that same delicious tease that she had often taunted Emma with. It was a sight to behold, and she already found herself missing the view of Regina's ass when she disappeared outside. It hadn't taken the blonde long to catch up with her, and the both to be in the Mercedes.

"Are you ready to go, my love?" Regina tilted her head toward the blonde who fastened her seat belt in time to return the gaze.

"Yup." Emma bit her lip and waited as the brunette pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road. It wasn't long before the two of them had arrived at the Nolans' apartment.

Regina had parked the Benz just outside and turned to the teenager who hadn't moved. She sat there idly, staring out the window at the tall building before turning her emerald gaze to meet the brunette's awaiting visage.

"Be quick, alright?"

"You should come in." The words were out of her mouth faster than she intended.

"Well, I'm unsure-"

"It won't hurt. Besides, it's cold out here and we have a table to eat at." Emma smiled reassuringly. "My parents are gone- I mean, not to sound- So, you wouldn't be intruding or anything."

"If you insist." She gave Emma an amused smile before shutting the Mercedes down and pocketing the keys. "I'll grab the lunches."

"Thanks. I have to find the stupid key again." Emma mumbled as she got out of the car, the faint sound of a chuckle sounded behind her and she couldn't help but to smile. Soon, she found the house key in her jeans pocket. The two of them headed towards the apartment building and that's when Emma suddenly felt embarrassed.

"I'm sorry it's crappy," she mumbled, sticking the key into the lock as soon as they reached apartment three. It was a sudden tide of self-consciousness that had washed over her. She had seen how nice Regina's house was. How tidy, pristine, and so _luxurious_ it was. Her measly apartment fell in the shadows of such a great building.

"Don't be, dear. It's fine." The brunette reassured, following the blonde eighteen-year-old into the small loft. Upon seeing the small kitchen table, she sat the bag and juices down along with her purse. "Shall I wait while you retrieve the drawing?"

"Yeah. I'll be back. You have a seat. Make yourself at home." Emma jogged up the stairs to her bedroom, making haste in removing the charcoal drawing from her closet.

She was soon back downstairs, only to stop as if she ran into an invisible wall. There was Regina Mills, sitting at _her_ table, in _her_ house. Even though they had been going with each other for almost two months, now, she still couldn't believe the very sight of this woman in her home.

Regina didn't seem to notice Emma's presence, so the blonde just stood there and enjoyed the sight.

Emma cleared her throat, nervously chuckling as she reached her teacher. "Hey."

"Oh, Emma!" The brunette jumped in her spot, caught off guard from her roaming eyes.

"I've got it."

"Show me." Now the teacher was eagerly facing Emma, muddy orbs on the large frame in her hands. The glass had been turned away from Ms. Mills, but as soon as her eyes landed on the object in her student's hand, Emma flipped it around.

And she gasped.

"Oh, my-" She stood, a slender hand outstretched as if she were going to touch the glass, but was too afraid to. Her mouth was open, jaw slack as if she had witnessed the most impressive of sights. Emma bit her lip, stunned at the tears welling in the woman's eyes.

"It's so beautiful, Emma. You've done a magnificent job." Regina commented, looking up to the blonde with a watery smile on her face.

"It should be. It's you." Emma whispered softly.

"No, I'm not beautiful, dear. Your portrait is a million times the woman that I am." The husky voice was so quiet, Emma barely heard what she had said.

"You're beautiful, Gina." Emma spoke far more loudly than she had intended, but it had gotten the point across, for the brunette's eyes had widened incredibly.

"Emma, please. Don't do this. I'm really not worth the time nor effort to-"

But Emma didn't let the older woman speak. She cut her off with a finger pressed against those perfect, red lips. "You _are_ worth the effort, Regina Mills."

"You seem to give me a lot of these little talks, don't you, dear?"

"I do it when you feel bad and I'll blab on until the cows come home about how beautiful, intelligent, perfect, haunting, and what have you, that you are. I don't give a damn if I sound repetitive. That seems to be the way to get your ass to believe me." The blonde tightly crossed her arms across her chest and gave Regina a quirked brow. "Now, if you have _anything_ to say, do it now or forever hold your peace."

"Emma." Those plump lips moved, but no sound left them. Her name coming from those lips, though, made up for it. It was so soft, almost breathless, and dare she add even huskier than before.

The frame was set aside as she took a step forward, right into Regina's personal bubble.

"Ever since the first day, I just couldn't take my eyes off you. You had this perfect, silky hair." She brought a hand up, running her fingers through the hair she had yearned to touch back then. It was still soft, just like silk. She would never tire of running her fingers through Regina's raven mane.

Swallowing thickly, her green eyes stared into the brown ones in front of her, which were dark with a deep, voracious hunger that Emma knew could never be satisfied with food. "And your eyes. They show your emotions. I've had fun staring into them, trying to figure out what you're thinking as you speak. But that mouth. You had this dark, red lipstick on, and it was so captivating to watch as you licked them between every sentence."

Emma's second hand found purchase on Regina's cheek, and she heard that sharp intake of air as she gently ran the pad of her thumb over the older woman's upper lip, lightly skating the scar that she had been curious about. She never did ask about that.

"And you wore this tight, _tight_ power suit that just hugged your ass every time you turned or bent." Emma chewed on her lower lip as the hand in the raven locks fell away to rest on Regina's posterior end. And that's when she surged forward and crashed her lips against the English teacher's.

It was nothing but needy desperation as she furiously kissed those tempting lips that had taunted her since the beginning of the year, almost four months ago. She was terrified that she had read Regina wrong, for she hadn't made a point to move, that was, until she felt a hand cup the nape of her neck as soft lips moved against her own.

Emma felt the older woman's lips part and she took that as invitation to enter her mouth. She tasted sweet, much like caramel coffee. Then the blonde remembered seeing one of those paper cups on her desk earlier in fourth period. If that wasn't enough to bring Emma to her knees, it was that _delicious_ groan that emanated from Regina's throat which caused the blonde to think she would _absolutely_ die.

And then it was over when oxygen became a necessity. Both had mutually pulled away, breathing heavily, and stared at each other.

"Regina," Emma couldn't help but to say her name, and it came out breathlessly, earning her a look that could slay her where she stood.

It was almost a silent plea on that woman's face, and Emma thought that she knew exactly what the brunette was asking, for she felt the desire throbbing between her own thighs.

" _Emma_?"

That was enough to get Emma to gather her wit and grab onto the brunette's hand, then proceed to head toward the stairs that led up to her bedroom. As soon as her feet hit the top landing, she turned to look at the woman who had followed behind her, a lip caught between her teeth.

That was a _holy crap, screw all things moral_ look right there and it was enough to force Emma into the room and up against a wall as their lips came crashing down on one another again. The sensation caused more heat to pool between her legs and she swore if she didn't get relief soon, she would explode right there.

Emma had decided to make the first move, moving her free hand to cup the side of Regina's neck. Apparently, that was enough for the brunette, for Emma soon felt a hand tugging at her black jeans until she soon felt it go past the waistband.

" _Oh_ ," she gasped against the teacher's cheek when the hand reached her panties and slipped past the elastic band. She blushed deeply as the hand tried to squeeze inside the tight jeans, fingers brushing against her sensitive flesh in the process which was enough for Emma to blank.

All logical and coherent thoughts flew out of her brain in that moment. Whatever was happening now was nothing but raw emotion and there was no stopping it. Emma backed away from the wall, her hand on the brunette's wrist to tug it out of her pants.

Emma gave her a reassuring kiss before slipping her jeans off. She smiled, hoping it was explanation enough, before tugging on the older woman's hand to bring her closer so she could begin removing the pea coat she still wore.

But Regina stopped her with a lifted hand and shook her head. Heart sinking into her stomach, Emma backed away, only to notice as the high school teacher began to undress herself. It was first the coat, which landed next to the blonde's jeans. Next it was the jacket, which left Regina's arms completely exposed.

Emma licked her lips at the sight of smooth, olive skin and made haste to remove what remained of her own clothing. It took her record time to shuck everything off and now she stood in her birthday suit.  
Regina, on the other hand, stood proudly, stark naked in the middle of Emma's bedroom. This reminded the teenager of a dream she had the other night and, for some reason, she just hope that it was _real._

The kiss seemed real enough, and so did the feeling of her teacher's breasts and skin against her own. And, _oh_ , did it feel so _good_. Emma couldn't help but to let out a guttural moan from each sensation. Her desire only grew into a raging fire, the sudden need had her pressing closer against the tanned flesh. Her hips ground against the other woman's, and the sound that came from her shot straight to Emma's core.

Lips connecting with one another in a heated kiss, the two eventually found the bed and fell back against it. Somehow Regina had ended up on top, slowly rocking against the thigh between her own. The blonde's hands roamed over as much olive flesh as they could, savoring the smooth and warm skin underneath her fingertips as she shifted her leg further up, pressing her knee against the brunette's center. The way the other woman squirmed under her dubious touches only made the blonde's ego grow.

Pale, slender fingers delved through thick and silky raven locks, tugging slightly at every touch given to the owner's. Regina had found the swell of one of Emma's breasts, the hand delicately squeezing the small globe as if she were afraid it would break. The blonde's response was eager, her back arching against the palm as a soft cry made its way from her lips.

" _Regina_ ," Emma whispered as she broke away for air. Her thigh had begun to grow cooler as the slick juices from Regina's heat started to dry, for the woman ceased movements upon discovering the younger girl's body.

" _Emma_ ," she whispered, the hand on the teen's breast moved further south until it reached forbidden territory, her other soon finding the blonde's own hand to entwine their fingers together.

Emma's breath hitched as she felt skilled fingers move across her sensitive lips, soon nuzzling between the folds, her hand squeezing the one that Regina had given her. She jumped and let out a choked moan when the English teacher had found the sensitive bundle of nerves. Yearning for more contact, she ground her hips against the hand and began to rock at a pace that Regina had set as she rubbed the girl's clit in tight circles.

"You're so _wet_. I always liked that about you, my pet." She purred into Emma's ear, her teeth gently teasing the lobe before she pulled those delicious lips away, only to trace the blonde's jaw with them.

Emma bucked her hips and cried, "only for you!" Her eyes squeezed tightly together and she swore she saw stars.

She encouraged the now exploring fingers as they slipped up and down the length of her slit. Then, without further notice, two fingers slipped inside of her. " _Fuck_."

"Language, Miss Swan, unless you plan on doing exactly that to me." Regina growled tantalizingly into her ear, and it was that that had Emma coming blissfully against her hand, shouting her teacher's name into the thick air.

Her body shook with spasms as she stilled, the grip on the older woman's hand tightening. The teacher, though, hadn't stopped her thrusts and helped the blonde ride out the orgasm until the tremors died altogether. And she lay there, panting like she had just run a marathon.

Having a sudden desire to see that gorgeous woman above her reach such heavenly heights, her own fingers began to find their way between their bodies to discover the brunette's own hot arousal.

"You know," the blonde panted, her index finger lightly grazing over the older woman's damp, intimate mound. She could feel Regina softly squeeze her hand from the contact, which had her continue with her exploration.

"Hm?" The brunette hummed in pleasure, finally pulling her fingers from Emma. She brought them to her mouth and licked each one delicately, groaning softly both at the taste and feeling of the teen's exploring fingers.

"I've been wondering…" She shivered, her cheek tinted a deep shade of pink as she watched Regina.

Regina shifted up so she could straddle Emma's stomach, which had ultimately allowed more access for the blonde's fingers, to where she had immediately thrust into her teacher.

"W-wondering what?" The older woman moaned her words, eyes squeezed tight as she rolled her hips against the thrusting fingers.

"Do I suck at this?" Emma asked sheepishly, eyes drinking up the woman above her, marveling at how sensual she looked with pleasure on her face and the way the sweat glistened on her bouncing breasts.

Then she smirked. Dark eyes met with green and right then, her silent question was answered. "Of course you don't, dear."

"Cool." Emma smirked, awkwardly shifting her thumb to press against Regina's clit, which ended in an ultimate success as the brunette mewled softly and bucked her hips.

Soon her lips were back on Emma's in a searing kiss. The rocking of her hips came quicker and more desperate as the fingers pumped harder and faster, urging her to tip over the edge.

And it didn't take long, or much. All Emma did was whisper, "Come for me, _Gina_ ," before the teacher came undone, her entire body stiffening in its place as wave after wave of pleasure shot through the brunette's body. Emma could barely feel her hand as the older woman had squeezed it.

Regina collapsed beside Emma, her chest rising and falling heavily, as she stroked the top of the blonde's hand with her thumb. She turned her head and watched as Emma brought her fingers to her lips, her tongue coming out to taste the residue left over from the brunette's orgasm. She closed her eyes, enjoying the familiar essence _._

"Remember our first time?" The brunette tossed onto her side, facing Emma, and stared at her with a quirked brow. "I was surprised with what you told me."

Emma nodded her head at the question. "Yeah, and that I've never been this far with someone before. I knew this chick once and I touched her boobs, but that was about it."

"Oh? I don't recollect hearing that." Regina smirked and scooted closer to the blonde teenager, her fingers lightly trailing across her jaw. Emma gazed at her, head slightly tilting into the touch, and the sight just made her heart melt. That woman was so stunning, even with mussed hair and sweat-slick skin.

"You're so beautiful."

"Haven't you already established that? And might I add, rather adamantly?" The brunette teased, bopping Emma's nose with her finger.

"That's why we're where we are, actually." Emma clarified, a grin on her face.

"Indeed, my love. It seems to happen quite often."

Emma stared at Regina now, who had been smiling as well, and it was so absent, she assumed the brunette didn't even know she was doing it. And now she was staring at her lips again. They were just so kissable.

"I'm hungry." Emma huffed softly and sat up, her eyes sliding over to the small, digital clock on the headboard.

"You always are afterwards." She heard as she read the clock, the time that it had displayed had the blonde stumbling out of bed, tripping over sheets and her teacher's naked limbs.

"It's almost sixth period. We should get back."

"Pity," Regina said softly. Emma could feel those eyes boring into her skin, which ultimately froze her and made her turned around to note the small smirk on the brunette's face.

"Is it?"

"Well, I mean, since we're here and Mr. Glass will mark you present regardless…"

Emma's brows rose. "Ms. Mills! Are you condoning me to skip class to, dare I say," then she whispered, " _have fun_?"

Then that smirk spread across her lips once again, and Emma was back on that bed in zero time, all traces of hunger and panic immediately gone.

"Yes," she finally said, leaning forward with one arm by the blonde's naked hip. And before the blonde knew it, the two of them were back on one another in a tangle of limbs, lips attached to skin, and hands exploring familiar and aching territory.

After Emma had floated back down to the ground from her third climax, panting in Regina's arms, the two of them lay together with fingers lazily trailing patterns on each other's skin. The brunette had her arm wrapped around the blonde, hand resting on her bicep as the other held onto a pale hand resting on her rapidly rising and falling abdomen.

"Answer me this." Regina's mouth was mere inches away from Emma's ear as she spoke, and the blonde could feel the teacher's warm breath against her skin.

"What is it?" Emma purred.

"Why me? I'm _ten_ years older than you, Emma. Why haven't you gone for someone your own age?" Regina looked genuinely confused.

When Emma considered her dark eyes, she could see a hint of fear and that made her heart sink. She was sure the brunette figured this was just some desire-driven action that the blonde had decided to take. Hell, Emma even thought it was exactly that months ago. But it was something far different because she felt like she just wanted so much _more_.

"Because I like you. I-I love you. I mean, I must admit that I liked your appearance at first. But after I started having lunches with you, after that first day that I stayed behind, I got to know your personality. I got to know a little more about you and I wasn't so threatened. I started to like you and develop some genuine feelings for you. Then we did more and, I don't know, I just found myself falling and fast." She answered honestly, her cheeks burning a rosy shade of pink. "Age doesn't really matter to me. I mean, I guess that it's kind of weird that you're older than me, but it doesn't matter. If you were eighty and crippled, I'd be there to take care of you and- It just doesn't matter. You know? Love knows no boundaries. And I'm eighteen now, so it's pretty legal."

"Legality has nothing to do with it." Regina murmured softly. "It's far stranger for me than it is for you."

"It's love, Gina." Emma shrugged. "How I felt then, how I feel now."

"Love? Is that what you had felt?"

"I don't know. I just liked you, like, a lot." She nibbled her lower lip after she finished.

"I see." Regina seemed to contemplate those words, her head slowly nodding as she accepted them.

"What did you feel?" The blonde tentatively asked.

Regina looked down immediately, eyes on the back of her hand that was still next to Emma's hip. "I'm not sure. I was conflicted with my emotions and I didn't know how I should feel. I really shouldn't be feeling anything for you. I-it's just not right. But, I do. I feel something, and it makes me feel so… _light_."

Emma couldn't help but let a small smile upturn her pale lips. She leaned forward and confidently pressed her lips to Regina's. Those words were raw honesty and Emma appreciated that.

"How long?" she asked after pulling away, leaving herself breathless, because, _gods_ , she could taste _herself_ on Regina's lips. And that mixed with Regina's flavor was pure bliss.

"I'm not sure. It was probably a month and half into the school year, when you first opened to me after staying for lunch. Because, right then, and I don't know why I'm saying this or thinking this, I knew that there was someone that cared about me. Someone that actually _cared_ in a world where people didn't. Perhaps, _then_ , I didn't have _these_ exact feelings for you, but that was a turning point. The more we talked, the more you opened up and revealed yourself… And there was _that_ day with those boys. And despite however I may have scared you that day, you came back. You stayed."

"I stayed," Emma whispered. She just realized how serious of a turn that this conversation had taken. Regina was now insecurely huddled in her own bubble instead of fixing to give her another fuck.

She took the time and looked, really looked, at the brunette. It was then that she had noticed how small she looked, and not just because her heels were off and clothes gone. She was isolated, and from what Emma could gather from what Regina had told her, she had been cast out most of her life. The hope in her eyes now told her that Emma was the only light that she had seen in years in her dark, absent cave of a life, and it was scary because she almost felt as if that was the only reason why the woman reached out to her. But, yet, Emma felt just the same; she latched onto the brunette, as well.

People were selfish. That's what Emma thought as she scooted closer to the brunette's form and wrapped an arm around her, bringing the nude body close into an embrace. Fingers played with raven strands of hair, sliding through the mussed mess, trying to untangle what she had ruined in the first place.

Regina just collapsed into her arms and, right then and there, Emma knew she would have to hold this woman for the rest of her life.

"And I always will," she finally whispered, voicing as much of her thoughts as she could into that simple sentence.

"You won't want me later on." Regina's voice sounded younger than her years as she spoke. It killed Emma.

"Don't say that. I won't regret _any_ of this. _I_ am not everyone else. _I_ am _me_."

And that's all she had to say to soothe Regina's worries for now. She just snuggled close into the blonde's arms, her head nestling underneath Emma's chin while her arms wrapped tight around her waist.

Emma's eyes closed, her fingers still smoothing through Regina's hair. They remained in this position for a few silent minutes, the blonde's hand roaming over soft, olive flesh as Regina's fingers skittered over Emma's porcelain back, grazing ever so lightly over the angry scratches on her back; a result from a few nights ago when Emma had surprised Regina with a new twist in her methods.

The two had remained with gentle hands exploring soft skin and fingers curling in locks of hair for what seemed like a lifetime until they had both jumped to remember that they needed to return to school. They had stayed gone too long, and they were going to get into trouble if they hadn't returned before the final hour.

"We need to go." Regina mumbled against Emma's pale skin. "I have a class to teach seventh. You have to go to art class."

"Yeah…" Emma reluctantly pulled away from the embrace and stood. She quickly donned her clothes once again before quickly cleaning up and running a brush through her tangled curls. Offering the brush to Regina, she ran downstairs to gather their belongings, only to spot their uneaten lunch on the table.

"We forgot about lunch." She heard Regina say behind her. "Shame. I was looking forward to today's surprise."

"Me too. She usually stuffs a note in the bottom of the bag." Emma ended up muttering, picking the food bag up.

Regina blinked and looked at her. "She does?"

"Yeah." Emma blushed. "I mistakenly told Belle that I had a crush on you on the first day and, of course, she told Ruby. That's why I had an extra grilled cheese. She usually leaves a note saying something about my 'girlfriend.'" And then her cheeks were aflame as well as the pink creeping up her neck.

"Girlfriend, huh?"

"They were just messing around. Nowadays, it's just some quote stuff or her being a dork."

"It's no longer a joke, now, is it?" Regina purred, her voice dropping a few octaves into a sensual growl.

"I-I guess not." Emma blushed and quickly handed Regina her purse. "Here. We should go. It's less than ten minutes until seventh starts."

The brunette teacher nodded and smirked, taking the bag before turning towards the door. Emma soon followed behind with her backpack slung over one shoulder and a smile spread across her lips.

* * *

"Where were you sixth?" Belle immediately asked upon seeing Emma in the hallway on the way to art class.

Emma blushed as the memories came back to her. She knew exactly where she was and what she had been doing, but she couldn't tell that to Belle. Especially if she couldn't keep her mouth shut. "With Ms. Mills. Lost track of time again."

"Uh huh." The brunette quirked a brow.

Emma just shrugged and pulled the door open to the art room, then headed over to her regular spot. She looked up as Belle just stared suspiciously at her. "What?"

"I thought you said Ms. Mills wasn't going to allow you to stay that long."

"Like I said, we lost track of time." Emma shrugged, now unable to keep focus on her friend. Everything else just seemed interesting, suddenly.

Belle took the spot next to Emma, laying down their supplies across the table. It didn't take long for her to notice the way the blonde avoided any visual contact. "You smell different."

"What?"

It felt like Emma just ran into a cement wall.

"Yeah. Usually you smell like apples or, well, nothing. But you smell kind of spicy, like some kind of perfume. And something else." Belle nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders and Emma knew exactly what she was doing.

"You're not getting anything out of me," she warned, pointing her pencil at Belle, who tried to feign her innocence.

"I'm not doing anything. You're giving yourself away, Em."

"No, I'm not."

"You're acting guilty. Almost shameful."

"No. No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are." Belle then smirked. "Did the walk of shame from her classroom, did we?"

"No. No walk of shame."

"So, you do admit it."

"What? I admit nothing! We hugged, maybe. That's it." Emma should just shut up, but she couldn't help but to argue with the brunette.

"God, Em! I'm just teasing you!" The brunette let out a guffaw and shook her head. "You should see the look on your face! It's so hilarious!"

"Shut up, Belle!" She ground her teeth, arms crossing tightly over her chest.

"Fine." She just shrugged and played with a pencil in front of her while the teacher gave instructions on what they were supposed to do next. Something to do with 3D-ing stuff, but Emma wasn't really paying any attention.

"Hey, Em. Wasn't Graham coming down here for the weekend?" Belle finally broke the silence between them, all tension immediately gone at the mention of their male friend.

"Oh, yeah! I think it was supposed to be after midnight, though. He didn't want to interrupt us from our dance. Although, I sort of wish he would. What the hell are we supposed to be doing, anyways?"

"Hang out and stuff. We might have a sleepover at Ruby's. Well, at the Bed and Breakfast. Either Graham's going to rent a room or Ru's gonna convince her granny to let us stay in one for the night." Belle shrugged. "You in?"

"Totally!" Emma nodded.

She hadn't seen Graham since visiting Boston a few weeks back and she was excited about hanging out with him again. Of course, she just wanted to sit back and chill at her house playing on the game station like they usually did, but there was limited time and she was sure her other friends wanted to spend time with him as well.

Emma spent the rest of the period buzzing with excitement. It wasn't long until the final bell had rung and she and Belle were out of there and into the hallway. Earlier that week, Mary Margaret had volunteered to do the girls' hair and makeup. She looked so excited and anxious to do it that Emma didn't want to reject her kind offer. Anyways, she would have a hell of a time doing it herself and if it were her own choice, she'd probably end up going to the dance with her hair down and mussed, without any makeup on.

Belle hadn't minded at all, either, in fact, she was rather pleased to get her hair and makeup done by someone else. She said she wanted to look her best tonight and couldn't afford to look like someone threw a Crayola box at her face and used a bad perm kit on her hair.

Emma had laughed at her because her date was supposed to be Ruby. She didn't exactly understand why Belle wanted to impress her so much when the two were friends. She suspected something was up between the two, but had never gave her suspicions away.

As the two headed down the hallway, Emma let her thoughts veer away from the possible affair between her two best friends. Graham was coming down tonight. Luckily, it wasn't until way later, so she should be able to have enough time to sneak away with Regina and dance with her like she had promised. Perhaps they'd even have a little time to do something more.

Oh, gods, was she as anxious as hell to see Regina tonight. She said she'd be wearing something special for her. The brunette would be chaperoning the dance, so, it would be something appropriate, but who said that it still didn't have to be suggestive? That woman was sex on a goddamn stick. No matter what she wore, looked like, or what have you, she was the most gorgeous woman Emma had ever laid eyes on and would, no doubt, still be stunning.

Regina was especially sexy when she was wearing absolutely nothing at all. Well, except for that smirk on her face that always teased Emma when she would be just far enough out of reach.

 _You must have patience, dear. It is virtue._

She always said that, just before the blonde would pounce on her and take the brunette wherever they were standing.

"Hey, Swan! You ready for tonight?" Killian's voice interrupted the blonde's thoughts.

Emma blushed, trying to force the dirty thoughts from her mind. "Oh, yeah. Totally. I've got my dress and everything all planned out-"

"Wasn't it the short, black number that Ruby gave you a couple weeks ago?" Then, as if by magic, his entire visage had fallen away to naught but a smile.

"Yeah." Emma gave him a look of skepticism.

"Awesome. I know what to get you. So, I should be off." Killian flashed a handsome smile that the blonde had tried to return. "So, pick you up at six?"

"The dance starts at six-thirty or seven." She quirked brow; something she inherited from the brunette teacher and her never ending sass.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll pick you up at six-thirty So, be ready, because I'm a loaded gun." And with that, he whipped around and waltzed off, leaving Emma to roll her eyes.

"Well, if he isn't a raging ball of hormonal youth, I don't know what is." Belle finally murmured from beside her friend.

Emma grunted and started to head toward the main entrance, weaving and maneuvering through the students who had still crowded the hallways. The two of them stopped short as Emma ceased her movements, eyes wide when they met with familiar, chestnut ones. All memories of earlier that afternoon had suddenly flooded her mind and Emma found herself drowned in olive toned sex.

"Re- Ms. Mills! Wh-what is-"

"You left this in my room, dear." The older woman walked the distance between them, arm extended with a red, leather jacket attached at the end. Emma could just _feel_ the immediate sexual tension from earlier occupy the air surrounding them.

Belle looked awkward in her position beside Emma. It was a good thing that she didn't know what was going on between them, because the blonde was quite sure that she would jump to conclusions, or at least feel even more awkward than she was, because she might just assume that the jacket wasn't exactly in Regina's classroom, but her actual room instead, and Emma could say it just might not be a lie.

"Thanks, Ms. Mills." Emma received the piece of leather from the English teacher and shrugged it on.

It smelled of Regina, and it was the most beautiful thing.

"You're welcome, Emma.".

"Thanks. Again, I mean."

"Because, knowing Emma, she would probably die without that thing." Belle managed to joke, making herself known, as she gazed awkwardly between the two.

Emma giggled to save her and Regina soon joined in.

"Oh, I'm quite sure that she's fond of this _fine_ jacket. I see that she tends to wear it often." The brunette spoke through her giggles.

"She really does."

"Shut it, will you?" Emma grumbled, cutting her friend off before she could express the next thought on her mind.

"Sorry."

"I should let you girls off. I am quite sure that you're anxious for the upcoming weekend and tonight's winter formal?" Ms. Mills addressed with a pleasant smile on her lips.

"Yeah. I heard you were gonna chaperone?" The blonde smirked.

"Yes, actually. It was a last-minute thing, especially after Ms. Boyd had gotten ill and could not attend." The brunette had the faintest of grins on her face.

"Huh, so I suppose I'll see you later?"

"Indeed." Regina nodded, then turned her attention to the long-haired brunette standing meekly next to the blonde. "Will you be going, as well, Miss French?"

"Yes, I will." Belle nodded.

"With anyone special?"

"Not really." She muttered. "Ruby said she would go with me."

"Oh, really?" Regina's eyes only slightly widened as she tilted her head, observing the small brunette.

"Yeah." Belle fiddled with the lace on her yellow top while her bottom lip disappeared into her mouth. "I-"

"We should probably get going. We still have to get ready and I know my mom has plans to spruce me up." Emma cut in, sensing the sudden mortification radiating off her friend from Regina's question.

"Indeed, you must. I shall see you both later." The teacher offered the two a polite smile, her eyes, though, lingered on the blonde for several heart beats longer than what would be considered safe.

Emma could feel the pleasant shivers sent from the older woman's stare run down her spine and hit every nerve in her body.

"Yeah, see you." Emma said softly, taking Belle by obvious surprise.

Regina nodded and leaned slightly forward, as if she were about to speak. Emma knew what words had been caught on the brunette teacher's tongue.

"Have a good weekend, girls." She said instead, turning around to saunter down the hallway where she had soon been engulfed by the sea of students.

"That was weird." Belle immediately muttered her thoughts after the English teacher's departure.

"Yeah, it was." Emma merely shrugged and headed off, once again, towards the exit.

"I mean- Do you still like her?" The brunette inquired, trying her best to keep up with the hastily walking Emma.

"She's become something of a friend through our lunches." The blonde pushed her way through the thinning crowd.

"What do you mean?"

"I talk to her. She talks to me. Sometimes it's personal, but usually, it's nonsense."

"Nonsense?"

"Can you stop being nosy?" Emma suddenly stopped and arched a brow at her friend who, in return, halted and donned the visage resembling that of a kicked puppy.

"I-I'm sorry-"

"No, don't be. _I'm_ sorry. I shouldn't have- It's just that, you know, some things are private and I don't want to blab about stuff. I spoke too much the first time and I know I shouldn't have." Emma sighed and gave Belle a quick hug before slowly proceeding to walk. "But, I guess, I'd also have to thank you for pushing. If not, I wouldn't have had lunch with her and we wouldn't be where we are today."

"I'm sorry. I should have known better and-"

"Eh, don't worry about it. You helped me, believe it or not." She shrugged it off and turned down her street.

"I did?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Cool." Belle smiled, making her words short, but Emma could see the burning question in her eyes. She must have decided not to pry, especially since the blonde had left it so vague.

The two of them had quickly made their way into Emma's apartment, of course, being immediately greeted by Mary Margaret. She wore a wide smile on her face and held two dresses in her hands. Looking behind her, Emma knew just what was there; the makeup kits.

"You girls ready?"

"As long as we have some good tunes." Emma smirked and made her way over to her mother, dropping the messenger bag onto the floor as she shed both jackets.

"Depends on what, dear. We have to make a unanimous decision." Mary Margaret quirked a brow at Emma's bag before gesturing to a free kitchen chair for Belle to take. The brunette did just that as the blonde pulled her phone from her pocket.

"Only because you hate it when I listen to the majority of my playlist. Admit it, Mary Margaret, you hate rock."

"I do not. I simply do not like profanity in some of the music you listen to." She replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Well, Cher it is." Emma shuffled through the music on her phone and chose a song. The beat of it filled the silence and had the newly pumped Emma slightly moving to it.

"Awesome, right?"

"One of her new ones?"

"Yeah. And no profanity, so don't worry." The blonde gave her mother a wry look.

"Oh, sit down and let me do your makeup."

"It was just a little joke." Emma feigned a pout as she took the spot next to Belle. She leaned towards her and whispered, "sorry 'bout my mother."

Belle giggled a response. "It's alright. Your bickering is entertaining."

"Better than cable?"

"Definitely."

"I can make you girls look like clowns if I want. Need I remind you of who exactly is doing your makeup." Mary Margaret was quick to interrupt Belle's next thoughts. She had quickly donned the same look that she had earlier.

"Sorry, Mrs. Nolan."

"It's quite alright, Belle." The pixie-haired brunette gave her a reassuring smile, but the same had not been given to Emma when she had turned her attention to the blonde. "Now you on the other hand, young lady."

"Sorry." Emma let her head drop to stare at the twiddling thumbs on her lap.

"It's alright, sweetheart." The elementary schoolteacher lay a hand on Emma's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

"Okay." The blonde bit her lip, her cellphone held in a tight grip.

"Who wants to go first?"

"Ruby and I wanted to eat at the diner before we went."

"And Killian's picking me up at six-thirty, so she can go first." Emma shrugged and played with her phone. "I can wait."

"Alrighty, then. Belle, if you could close your eyes for a moment." Mary Margaret instructed, her voice fading as Emma paid attention to her phone's small screen.

She wondered what Regina was doing right now.

 _Hey, Gina. What's up?_

The reply was almost immediate, which had the blonde by surprise.

 _ **Getting ready. Figured to get it done.**_

 _How far are you?_

The reply this time wasn't so quickly sent. Emma sat at the kitchen table with a bored look, watching as her mother buzzed around Belle with a small cosmetic brush.

The blonde sighed softly and slumped in her seat. It was a simple question. Why wasn't she responding?

Her phone buzzed with a new message. When the blonde had checked her status bar on the phone, she had noticed the regular preview had been blank. Blinking slightly, Emma clicked the message and was soon greeted with an image of a mini Regina.

And a very graphic photo of this little Regina inside her phone. The brunette wore nothing but a smile – nay, a smirk – and a few scraps of lacy material covering her intimate bits.

Now _that_ was a dangerous photo. Emma bit her lip, mouth salivating as she had continued to stare at perfect, sun-kissed skin. Regina probably shouldn't have sent such a racy photo to the blonde's phone. If anyone ever got a hold of it and flipped through her messages…

She'd have to delete the message. Or wipe the whole thing. Although, perhaps she could somehow save the image and transfer it to a safe device? Later.

"What's got you smiling?" Mary Margaret's voice had caused the blonde to nearly fall out of her seat. That phone's screen was black within seconds and stuffed into her pocket before her mother could even take another breath.

"Uh… I-I was just reading about a new episode of my favorite show." Emma quickly explained, urging the blush to keep away from her cheeks.

"I voted on porn." Belle was quick to interrupt Mary Margaret as she had begun to speak. "The way you stuck that thing in your pocket so fast like it was on fire. I mean, wow, Em."

 _Oh, it was more close to porn than you think, my dear Belle._

"Well, it wasn't. Mary Margaret just scared the shit out of me."

"Language, Emma!" The woman in discussion reprimanded with a stern look, nearly burning the flesh from Emma's guilty face.

"Sorry, I was just saying-"

"You can say it with less profane language, young lady."

"Fu-Je-Chri-Crap! Alright. Shi-Sheesh." Emma slumped back against the kitchen chair. Her back was already cramping just sitting here. It hadn't even been all that long and all she felt like doing was spouting spiteful language.

"I do _not_ want to hear that kind of language from you again. Okay?"

"No promises. They just slip out; you know?" The blonde shrugged and pulled out her phone to wake it up after the device had gone off again. It must have been Regina, no doubt asking why she hadn't replied. "But I'll try my best."

"Oh, Emma. What am I going to do with you?" Mary Margaret let out a dramatic sigh, or so Emma thought, and went back to her station, fixing Belle's hair up.

The blonde withdrew her attention once again and gazed down at the small screen to see the new message that had, in fact, been sent by Regina. It was another picture. This time she was fully clothed in a delicious black number that plunged at the neckline to give a generous amount of cleavage – although an appropriate amount for school – and stopped short of her knees. She had completed her outfit with a bun in her hair, albeit a few pieces of raven framed her face.

She looked breathtaking; and that was just the picture. Emma could only imagine how stunning she would be in person. The blonde could already smell her spicy perfume. Regina's perfume was her favorite scent, and that was for a fact.

 _Wow. You look so amazing, Gina. Can't wait until I see you._

"It's going to be your turn, soon!" Mary Margaret smiled at her daughter as she continued to stylize Belle's hair.

"It's very relaxing." Belle looked over to Emma, a smile on her face. "Of course, that's just me."

"No, I know. I enjoy it when people touch my hair. Well, when I want them to." The blonde shrugged and sat her phone down next to her on the table as she retrieved a makeup case.

"Why don't you go put that dress on while I get a start on Emma?"

The blonde looked up at the mention of her name just in time to see Belle nod and stand up from her seat. She grabbed the lavender gown that Mary Margaret had handed her and headed towards the bathroom.

"Now, it's your turn." The short-haired brunette made her way over to Emma, a brush in hand. "I'll do your hair first to get it out of the way. I don't want to accidentally color your hair."

"Alright." Emma nodded at her mother's words and gathered her phone up after it had buzzed with a new message once again.

"You can't have that thing while I'm doing your makeup." Mary Margaret put a fist on her hip.

"Yeah, I know. I'll be done after this." She muttered, trying to read the text on her screen with a smile. Her mother had gotten close to her now, she could feel it, and the brush tangling in her blonde curls proved her proximity.

Emma sucked her lower lip into her mouth and kept her phone close to her. She couldn't risk Mary Margaret seeing the picture that was still showing.

"Are you texting someone?" The brunette asked as she had brushed tangles from Emma's blonde mane.

"Yeah. Still haven't got to read it, yet."

"You should do that. I'm not stopping you."

Emma nodded and chuckled softly. She had been so worried about Mary Margaret seeing Regina's picture that she hadn't read the last message yet and the pixie-haired woman could very well see her screen.

 _ **Why, thank you, dear. I simply cannot wait, either. Why don't you let me pick you up?**_

"Oh, shit." Emma couldn't help but to mutter.

"What is it, dear?"

"Uh, nothing. I just, it's just this message. It's fine." The blonde shrugged and quickly started to type in a response.

 _Can't. MM's doing my hair and makeup right now._

She hit send and bit her lip. She should probably tell her about Killian, as well. The excuse that she had made up wouldn't entirely suffice, because the brunette could still very well offer to pick her up afterwards. And, Regina would be at the dance, after all. She would see Killian with her.

 _And I'm getting picked up. Killian asked me to the dance and I felt bad if I were to reject him. It's not like anything's going to happen. I'm exclusively yours._

"Your hair is so beautiful. I wish mine was like that sometimes, but your mom did such a wonderful job with mine." Belle's accent echoed from behind Emma, who had rolled her eyes.

"My hair's a beast. It hates me half the time."

"That's why you tame it."

"I've tamed enough beasts in my life." Emma nonchalantly shrugged and slumped once again in her chair, but Mary Margaret had told her to straighten up, in which she abided with a groan.

"Well, you've got more."

"No."

Belle huffed and stuck her tongue out at the blonde. "Do I look stupid?"

"Yes."

"You look beautiful, dear." Mary Margaret smiled.

"With tongue and all?"

Emma snorted. "Oh, I'm sure Ruby would like that."

" _Emma Swan!"_

"We're just friends." Belle's face had developed a florid color at the statement and she fidgeted in her spot.

"Sorry. Just making a joke." The blonde gave her friend a skeptical quirk of the brow.

"Just, shut up."

"Hey, you look pretty, Belle. Beautiful. Ruby will agree, I'm sure. Just don't yell at me again." Belle have her a wry smile.

"Answer your phone." She muttered and sat in the chair next to Emma.

"Shit. It went off?" The blonde quickly looked down at her phone to note that, sure enough, there was a new message from Regina. Her stomach did flips. What was she going to say about that?

 _ **Oh, I see… I suppose that is alright so long as you keep your promise to dance with me, my love. My eyes will be on you all night, knowing that you are mine. I will not let him take that away from me. Remember that, Emma.**_

"Who are you talking to?" Belle's voice had interrupted the momentary reverie that she had been in upon reading the sweet message from the high school teacher.

"What?"

"You're smiling like an idiot again." She chuckled and pointed at Emma's face, looking up at Mary Margaret who wore a humored grin.

"You are, Emma. Who is it?" The pixie-haired woman stopped her work and tilted her head to give the blonde a questioning arch of the brow. "Do you have a boyfriend, Emma?"

"No, I can honestly say that I don't." Emma replied, the internal debate storming within her mind. She wanted so much to tell Mary Margaret right now. But who would she suspect Emma was dating?

Would she think Belle?

Although, she _had_ told her that Killian were to pick her up later. And Belle would be leaving with Ruby soon as well.

Maybe she would think that Emma had finally been fed up with the boyfriend questions. But, Emma didn't know if she could even bring herself to utter those words to her. There was something in her gut, pulling her back. And she knew exactly what it was.

"Oh, then who it is?"

"No one. Nothing." Emma mumbled, hiding behind her phone as she hastily tried to reply to Regina.

 _I know, babe. I'll be keeping my eyes on you, too. But I gotta go right now. Everyone's hounding me on who I'm texting because I can't stop smiling like an idiot. See what you do to me, Regina?_

"Oh, bull! You're totally talking to someone."

"So? It's my own personal business. I don't have to share." The blonde quickly slipped her phone into her pocket and sat back against the chair.

"Why don't you do my makeup, please, so we'll be done with that? I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"I'm sorry, honey." Mary Margaret frowned and grabbed one of the makeup kits to get a start on her daughter's face.

"Calm down. I'm sorry, too. I guess I know what it's like to want privacy." Belle shrugged, the blush crawling up her neck like a rapidly burning fire was what had given her away. Emma suspected she knew what her brunette friend was referring to, but opted not to bring it up.

"It's alright, guess. _I'm_ sorry for overreacting like that. I just don't feel comfortable with telling you who I'm talking to. Maybe one day, I will."

"Maybe one day?" The long-haired brunette squished her brows together as she leaned towards the blonde. "What if that day never comes?"

"Oh, it will. Trust me. You'll know when I tell you." Emma met Belle's eyes and let a slow smirk spread across her pink lips.

"Close your eyes, please." Mary Margaret whispered. She had been listening to Emma, she was sure. Now she'll have the schoolteacher jumping down her throat with anxious questions about her new revelation.

Emma gave an internal sigh and closed her eyes. Why were the people around here so nosy? Regina seemed to be the only one so far that hasn't bugged her with futile questions that only pried and made the blonde angrier than she had been before.

Soon enough, after Emma had gotten lost in thought of Regina, Mary Margaret had finished up with the blonde's makeup. She switched to the black dress and found a pair of black leggings to wear underneath the short material, also donning her red leather jacket to cover up the exposed skin on her upper half.

Belle had left about an hour after Mary Margaret had finished Emma's makeup, a smile on her face as she climbed into Ruby's car.

Killian had arrived only moments ago and was currently waiting while being berated with questions by Mary Margaret in the living room as Emma had slipped on her boots and jacket.

When she walked back downstairs to take off, Mary Margaret was holding a camera and wearing a large – if not conniving – smile.

"Why don't you go stand next to Killian and I'll take a picture?"

" _Okay_ ," Emma grumbled, doing just that. Really, she shouldn't be taking a picture like this with _him_. It should be Regina standing beside her. Maybe she could convince the brunette to take a picture with her later.

"Smile!"

The smile on Emma's face couldn't be any more fake. Unfortunately, Killian looked just as happy as he could be. That stuck a needle into Emma's heart. She felt bad for leading him on like this, and for as long as it had been. She should have told him when they first met – or at least when he first started to show interest in her.

"And we're off. Thanks mom." Emma gave Mary Margaret a soft smile before rushing to the door.

On their way there, she could just feel the guilt eating away at her. The happily chatting teenage boy next to her was completely clueless to her agenda for tonight.

 _I should probably tell him before I run off with Regina…_

"How are you?" Killian interrupted Emma's thoughts and pried emerald eyes away from the sidewalk ahead of them.

"Good," she answered. "You?"

"Just good? Aren't you excited to go to the dance?"

"Not really. It's not my thing."

"Then where'd you get the dress?" He stopped in his tracks and pointed to her attire.

"Ruby." She shrugged and continued to walk, forcing the brunette boy to follow. "Birthday, remember? She already planned my demise. And I told you earlier about this."

"Oh, yes. _That_." Killian chuckled. "I couldn't picture you in a dress. Especially that one."

"Oh, hardy har har."

"No offense, Emma, but you aren't all that girly." He playfully bumped her side, whispering something that froze her. "You gay or something?"

When she hadn't said anything, he spoke once again. "It was meant as a joke, but I guess you can't take one." He crossed his arms and stood in front of her, a bushy brow arched curiously.

"Yes."

"Yes? You can't take a joke?"

"No."

"No, what? You can or you can't?"

"Neither. I mean yes. No, I mean no. I can take a joke, but- Fuck, you're giving me a migraine." Emma wiped her hands down her face and started toward the school again at a slow pace.

"Then what are you talking about? You're pretty, but you're confusing as hell."

"That earlier statement."

"What? That you don't seem to be a dress girl or that you aren't girly?" Killian took the few steps to catch up with the blonde, his face crinkling with confusion when she had shaken her head with a negative reply. "Then what? That joke about you being-"

"Yes," Emma finally sighed, her eyes focused on the students gathered outside the high school, chattering away.

"So, you're- Then why did you let me take you to the dance? Or are you just pulling my leg?" The two of them finally had entered the building and very slowly made their way down the hallway as Emma explained.

"No, I'm not joking. I didn't really want to make you feel bad if I rejected you for no reason. I just- I don't like telling people. There are too many that would judge." The blonde stopped by the gymnasium's door and leaned against it, considering his light eyes. "My parents don't even know."

"All this time, you were _gay_?"

"Yeah. I was just humoring you."

"You're a bitch." The smile on his face was the only thing that had told Emma that he was joking. "You owe me a dance for this. Make that two, actually."

"Fine. Deal." Emma shrugged and helped open the door to the gym. Loud music immediately blared into their ears. "Get your ass out there if you wanna dance, 'cause I am not doing this again."

"I know when to accept an invitation." He chuckled, surging forward into the room, rushing past the clusters of students dancing to the obnoxious music.

"Also, I'm going to be running off," Emma had started to explain, but her eyes caught sight of a brunette standing on the other side of the room, talking with a group of teachers, all of which had little plastic cups of punch in their hands.

 _Regina_.

She looked even more stunning than in that picture that she had sent. Now all was left was to see what she looked like without that dress on. The image of the woman wearing nothing but the lacy undergarments had flitted through Emma's mind and now all she could picture was Regina wearing just that.

"Emma? Are you alright?" Killian quirked a brow and stood in front of the blonde, waving a hand in front of her face. When she blinked and shook her head, trying to snap back to reality, she could see his gaze drift from her to the group of teachers.

"Who are you checking out over there?"

"No one." Emma quickly denied. "Come on. Let's dance."

"No, seriously. What's over there?"

"Nothing."

He was still looking over there by the time Regina had broken contact from the crowd and gazed across the room to lock eyes with Emma, a smile breaking out across her face. Then those whisky eyes moved to Killian and quickly averted towards the teachers once again.

"Ms. Mills?"

"What?"

"Do you fancy her?"

"I'm not telling you anything." The blonde shrugged and backed away to head towards the middle of the gym where the students were dancing. Killian followed behind her with his question in the air.

"Why won't you tell me?"

"Because." Emma tapped her foot to the beat of the music. "Just dance, dude. You wanted to and if you wait too long, I'll just walk away."

"Fine."

"How the hell are we supposed to dance to this, anyways?" Emma watched as he shrugged across from her and stood there, his own foot tapping in time with the blonde's.

"I don't know, but I think this song's almost over. Everyone's slowing-"

" _It's your turn, couples. Slow dance away!"_

Emma could hear a man's voice booming through a microphone. The upbeat music had suddenly halted and was soon replaced with a slow-moving song. Most of the students left the dance floor while the couples remained, and a few others joined.

The blonde stared with disbelieving eyes at Killian who wore that same, wicked smile on his face and twinkle in his eyes. He was all too happy for this, while Emma wished she could just shoot herself. She wasn't much for dancing or contact with others, and with this, she had to do both. With _him_.

She had to admit, he was a nice and sweet guy, but he was also what Belle had described him as earlier: a hormonal ball of youth. He was flirty as hell and, despite what Emma had told him earlier, he seemed to be anxious to get his hands on her. And thus, he had, placing one hand on her back and the other on her hip. Emma, on the other hand, had placed both hands on his shoulders, trying her best not to touch him _too_ much, if that were possible.

"Why couldn't we just wait until a different song came up?" Emma muttered, having to force herself closer to speak the words into his ear.

"Because you owe me a dance. And I don't want to wait. You said you were going to run off anyways." He smirked down at her and she was just about to smack that damned thing off his face.

"Oh, just shut up and let's dance."

Because she wanted this over with as soon as possible. She just _hated_ doing something like this. It was so utterly ridiculous and she couldn't believe that she was dragged into such a mess. Trying to occupy her mind, she subtly changed their positions so she could keep an eye on Regina, who was still chatting away with the teachers.

Good for her. She was socializing, Emma thought. She had never seen the teacher talk with others unless she had to. It was nice to know that she was doing it now. But the way that she seemed to fidget at times, the blonde could tell that she didn't like it as much as it had appeared. She wanted as much to get away from this scene as Emma did, and the way that she drew her attention away from the group every so often told her so.

And when she did it again, she came into eye contact with Emma, who flashed her a crooked smile. It had, in return, earned her a small, but sweet one, but there was something else holding her back and the blonde could see that.

Then Emma felt something touch her ass and give it a shameless squeeze. She growled in Killian's ear and pulled slightly away to glare at him. He gave her a hopeful smile before leaning forward, causing Emma to stare at him with wide eyes. He wouldn't _dare_.

But it was inevitable. She had taken too long to pull away and he had obviously used her immobility as an invitation, because the next thing she knew, Killian's lips were on her own and his scruffy beard was unpleasantly scratching her chin. The hand on her behind had taken the liberty to squeeze the round flesh again.

It had taken a second to gather her wits, but as soon as her brain had flicked back on, Emma was pushing at his chest with one hand and taking a step back. Luckily, Killian had abided and released the blonde with an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you better be. What the _fuck_ was that?"

"You- I thought you-"

"Has everything I said gone over your head?" Emma narrowed her eyes and gave him the most intimidating glare that she could muster. "Maybe in a different life I would have wanted to kiss you. But not this one. I'm sorry, Killian."

"No. _I'm_ sorry." He sighed.

Emma shook her head and gazed past the teenager to the group of teachers. Regina was gone.

" _Fuck_. I gotta go."

"I'm sorry!"

The blonde waved a hand at him as she marched toward the back exit where she had seen a shadow just moments ago. The door had clicked shut by the time she had reached it.

"Fuck!" Emma pushed the door open and made haste to exit, but one of the staff members had departed from the group to grab her arm.

"You can't exit that way."

"I just saw someone go through here. I need-"

"I'm sorry, but you can't." He didn't look the least bit of sympathetic as he pulled her back.

Emma struggled in his grasp, trying so desperately to break free. She needed to get to Regina before she left. She couldn't just let her go. But the teacher wouldn't let her go.

"Come on! Just let me go!" She could feel her throat constricting as she spoke. Her eyes were beginning to glisten. "I need to go! You don't understand!"

"I can't let you through." The man shook his head, leaving Emma to sigh and give her attempts a rest.

"Good. There's an exit over there that you can use." He pointed towards the door that Emma had entered earlier, which so happened to be across the entire gymnasium.

"Fine." She could have wept when he released her arm as she had trudged a few steps away from the exit.

When he had turned to head back toward the crowd of teachers, Emma hastily scrambled to the door once again, this time succeeding as she slipped through the exit. The teacher was shouting after her, but she couldn't hear him, she was too focused on sprinting down the hall in search of Regina. There was absolutely no clue of where she would have gone. She could have gone home, for all Emma knew.

The blonde hastily walked down the halls, head whipping back and forth to peek into each room. All that had come up empty and when she had passed down the English hallway, Regina's room was as dark. Just to be sure, Emma quickly walked towards the door and tried for the handle. It was locked.

"Fucking hell." The blonde growled and made her way down the hall once again. Where was Regina going to be? She wouldn't just go home, would she? _Would she?_

Then she heard it, as she passed the gym's doors as she made her way there. It wasn't Regina's voice, but a couple of girls gossiping outside the door.

"Did you go into the girl's bathroom?" One of them spoke urgently to a redhead.

"What? No. Why?" The redhead replied, tilting her head with green eyes focused on the brunette in front of her.

"There's someone in one of the stalls."

"Oh, congratulations! You know that people actually use the restroom." The redhead sarcastically enthused.

The brunette rolled her eyes. "No! I meant there was someone crying. I didn't see who it was, but I could hear them sniffling."

"Which bathroom?" Emma suddenly moved to stand between the two of them. She usually never interrupted others' conversations, but this was her only lead on Regina right now. Maybe that was her. And if it was, oh gods, Emma felt like utter crap for making the older woman cry.

"Who the _fuck_ are _you_?" The brunette narrowed her eyes.

"No one. Just tell me what bathroom."

"Do you know who it is?" The redhead queried, a gentle look in her eyes.

"Possibly. But it's kind of urgent if so. So, please."

"It's the one nearest to the gym. Where else?"

"Thanks." And Emma was off, leaving the two of them to continue with their gossip. Hopefully this was Regina and hopefully she would still be in there.

Oh, gods, what had she done? It was a bad idea to come to the dance with Killian. She should have just rejected him like she had planned if not for the insistence of her friends – which she hadn't seen _at all_ upon her arrival.

After hastily making her way down the hall, squirming past the people loitering in the hallways and talking about the mysterious girl in the bathroom, she had soon arrived in front of the girls' restroom. A few people stood outside, whispering to one another. The blonde scowled at them and made her way into the bathroom. There were a couple girls inside as well, touching themselves up in the mirror.

Emma slowly walked up beside them and pretended to fluff her hair all the while checking each stall in the mirror. Every stall appeared to be empty, each door slightly ajar to cross off the list.

Then her eyes landed on the final stall door, which was completely shut. Emma could see the shadow of a being ghost across the tiles. Was that her? If only she could see the shoes that she wore.

And to get these two girls out of the bathroom because she was running out of things to do in front of this mirror and she was starting to look like an idiot just standing there, staring at herself.

"Can you believe that?" One of the girls' voice asked, loud and squeaky.

"No!" The other replied as the two of them pushed away from the sinks.

"It's so crazy, isn't it?"

"I know!"

"Why would someone do that?"

"I don't know!"

Emma wrinkled her brows and slowly inched her way closer to the closed door at the far end of the bathroom. What the hell were they talking about again? She hadn't necessarily been paying attention. Her focus was on trying to find Regina.

"Uh! I can't _believe_ that someone would stick a pad to the ceiling."

 _What the fuck?_

Their voices faded away as they left the bathroom, leaving Emma alone with whoever was in that stall. She really hoped that it was Regina or else she was absolutely screwed. Who knows what it would turn out like if she were to knock on that stall and someone else would be in there.

Maybe she could call her? Or text. If she heard a phone go off, which she hoped that Regina would have hers on her, then she would know that it was her. So, she whipped her phone from her jacket pocket and quickly thumbed through to find Regina under her messages.

 _Regina?_

Send.

There were no sounds within the bathroom to indicate that it was Regina in that stall, nor that she had received the message. The blonde frowned slightly, brows furrowing. Perhaps it wasn't Regina. After all, why would she go into a bathroom stall?

Emma looked down to her phone once again. There were no new messages, aside from a few that her friends seemed to have sent her asking where the hell she was. The blonde didn't bother to respond to them. Instead, she decided to try calling her brunette lover in attempt to get a hold of her.

And, if that was Regina in the stall, there would be no way that she couldn't at least hear the phone vibrate.

But as the phone rang on her end, it was silent on the other.

Then the bathroom stall door opened revealing a young teenaged girl, mascara and tears streaking her face. One look at the blonde had the black-haired girl out of the bathroom in no time.

Emma visibly relaxed at the sight. At least that wasn't Regina. But, that had also raised a question: Where was she?

With a sigh, the blonde left the bathroom as she attempted to call the brunette one last time. She probably wanted to be left alone. Emma screwed up.

Well, it _was_ Killian's fault, but it was Emma's all the same for going with him to the formal. Oh, she was going to _string_ that boy up by his testicles and make him wish he hadn't kissed her.

Shaking those nightmarish thoughts aside, the young blonde decided to search the premises of the school one last time before calling it a night. When she hadn't found any traces of Regina, or her car, Emma decided it was time to return home.

And as she was walking down the path in the desolate streets, tears stung her eyes. What did she do? Regina was more than likely angry at her for what she had done, or even worse, she was _hurt_ by the action. And Emma couldn't blame her.

Emma wouldn't even blame Regina if she were to cut off their relationship. But the very thought of that sent her heart sinking into the pit of her stomach. After all the risk and time that they had spent to get to know one another, it would all have been for naught.

And the laughter. And the tears. And the wonderful feeling of each other's embrace. It would be gone and that drove a stake through the blonde's heart.


	17. If A White Girl Couldn't Can't Even?

Now, the next task at hand was to get past her parents' questioning and any risk of them noticing her puffy eyes. Perhaps, if she were to walk slowly enough, the swelling would go down and she could avoid such problems. But, it was just her luck that she could feel the familiar pull on her eyes with a blur in her vision.

 _Just walk quickly,_ she advised herself, walking as fast as her legs could carry her.

"Honey, what's wrong? You look like you've been crying." Mary Margaret's voice pulled Emma from her thoughts.

The blonde hadn't even realized that she had made her way upstairs and into the apartment until she took a good look around. It was like she hadn't noticed that she had stopped crying, and a while ago, too, telling by the dried tears on her face. It wasn't like she cared, anyways.

"I'm fine." Emma shrugged and tried to push past her mother. She could feel the urge to break down rising with every breath.

"You aren't fine. Something's wrong. Please, Emma." The pixie-haired woman pleaded, but it was David who had pulled her back, letting the blonde escape toward the kitchen.

Emma tried her best to keep from any eye contact with the two of them as she shuffled through the fridge and pulled out a small container of kumquats before running off upstairs. As she ascended each step, she could hear the two of them urgently talk to one another.

She didn't care. She cared about nothing. All she wanted was Regina. But the brunette disappeared, no doubt hurt and alone. And that had only pulled Emma deeper into that pit that she absolutely despised. It was what she had tried to avoid at all costs and had never seemed to have a problem with it since meeting Regina.

But, now, she was spiraling back down the mountain that she had tried so hard to climb. That ray of sunshine that spoke to her through the darkness had disappeared, leaving everything to close in around her.

"Maybe I'm just being stupid. We didn't even talk." The blonde muttered to herself, pulling her phone from her jacket pocket before tossing the article of clothing aside. She checked the messages, just in case.

 _Nothing_.

Emma looked at her phone expectantly before quickly pulling up the new message screen and typed something in.

 _I know that you're angry at me and I'm sure that you need time… But, please, Regina. I really want to talk to you. I want to explain. I'll give you all the time that you need, just please… respond to me._

But, upon reading what she had written, she deleted it. That sounded too damned desperate, for sure. She'd probably only turn Regina away if she were to send that message.

Tossing her phone aside, she lay back against her bed and sighed, placing the container of small fruit on her stomach as she dug her pocket knife out of her nightstand drawer. She must wait. She needed time.

 _Time._

Time was an enemy, and Emma's worst. She hated it more than anything, especially when it forced her to wait for something that she did not necessarily want to have to wait for. It was a ridiculous concept; _time_. But that was the only thing to do to pass the time and not think of the things that would bring tears to her eyes; insulting time.

Well, it was working for a few minutes, until she had grown bored of insulting time and began to think of that woman. How could she be so stupid as to let her go like that? How could she be so stupid to go with Killian to the dance? She only had regrets. She regretted going to the Winter Formal at all. She regretted not moving away from that kiss fast enough. She regretted ever staying for lunch with Ms. Mills.

 _No_.

No, she didn't regret that. There was no possible way that she would regret ever choosing that path. How could she even think about regretting something like _that_? It must have just been her mind and the bitterness of the kumquats controlling her brain.

She set the container aside and closed her eyes.

"Emma?" A masculine voice called from the doorway.

The blonde's eyes popped open, head whipping to the side to see David standing there with a tentative look in his blue eyes.

"May I come in?"

"If you want the kumquats back, they're on my nightstand." Emma tossed onto her other side and brought the blanket over her head.

"Emma, what's wrong?" He asked, though his voice was calm and soft. The blonde could hear footsteps as he made his way across the room to her bed. "It will make you feel better if you say it."

"No, it won't." Emma grumbled, curling up in her spot and tugging the covers tighter against her. "Nothing will make me feel better."

"What happened, honey?" There was a dip in the mattress as he perched on the edge of the bed, causing the blonde's body to roll into him.

Emma sighed and brought the blanket down, resting it underneath her arms as she gazed up at her father with large, green eyes, shimmering with unshed tears. "I fucked up."

"You fucked up how?"

"I hurt someone that I really care about without meaning to. I-it was someone else's fault, but sh- they didn't see all of what happened. And- A-and I fucked up, David. I fucked up so badly." Emma turned into the man's arms as the tears building up upon his arrival had sprung free, a terrible sob forcing its way out of her.

"Oh, baby." David held the blonde close, a hand caressing the back of her head. "I'm here, Emma, I'm here for you."

The blonde hadn't dared to respond. She couldn't. Instead, she squeezed him tighter, his musky cologne filling her senses as she buried her face in his shirt. It wasn't long until Emma could hear another pair of feet journey up the stairs, urgently moving as soon as they had hit the landing. Soon enough, the weight of Mary Margaret had dipped the mattress further down, and another set of arms were around Emma.

"What happened?"

"I don't know." David's response was a whisper. The blonde had now calmed for the most part, although she couldn't help the soft sobs that escaped every so often into her father's shirt. "She said that she had screwed up. Something about her hurting someone by accident, but it was someone else's fault? That's all I got out of her."

Mary Margaret's lips pressed soothing kisses against blonde locks. "It'll all be alright, Emma. We'll get through this."

"You don't know that." Emma's voice was muffled against David, but the woman must have heard her clear enough.

"And why not?"

"Because I _fucked_ up everything. Up the ass, mind you. With a cactus. Covered in _barbed-wire_."

"Emma!"

"It's true! There's no coming back from this." The blonde pushed away from her father and sat up to stare at the two with red, puffy eyes, tear-stained cheeks, and snot covered nose.

"It always gets worse before it gets better." She tried to reassure the teenager, but Emma only shook her head.

"I don't know if this will."

"Just give it time, Emma." Mary Margaret sighed. "David said that you had accidentally hurt someone?"

"Yeah…"

"Talk to them?"

"I've tried to, but she won't answer."

"Then wait. Give her time. Time is usually best in these situations-"

"I _hate_ time!" Emma slammed the palms of her hands on the bed. "It only makes things worse!"

"Emma, honey, what I think your mother is trying to say is that, although time may be painful now, it will be worth it later, when the waiting is over." David cut in before his wife could protest the blonde's words. He knew how both his wife and daughter worked. If Mary Margaret were to go too far, and he knew when that point would be, Emma would only get angrier and clam up.

The sheriff shifted on the bed, his eyes focused on Emma's face. "Just think about when enough time has passed and you contact her. Things will get better, won't they?"

"Only if she wants to talk to me about what happened." Emma mumbled, emerald orbs sliding towards the phone that she left on the nightstand. She kept her gaze there as the other two watched her with frowning, sympathetic faces.

"Would you like us to leave you alone?" David finally asked after a few minutes of silence. The blonde only nodded and curled back up on her bed as she watched as both he and Mary Margaret stood, the latter picking up the container of small fruit.

"If you need anything, dear, don't hesitate to ask, okay?" Her mother whispered softly.

"I will."

"Goodnight, Emma."

"Try to have a good night, honey."

"Yeah. I'll see." Emma shrugged and watched them, frowning again, as they made their way to the door. Good thing that they didn't dare pry for more information or stay to bug her. They knew that something was off, and more than usual when she was in such a mood.

* * *

"Yes, she's upstairs."

"She might still be asleep."

"She had a rough night."

"Just poke her to wake her."

"Thanks." The last voice was different than the first two.

The blonde sat up in her bed, eyes wide as the sound of footsteps coming closer only had her movements hastier. The time was sufficient for her to gather herself as the source of the footsteps appeared in her doorway.

"Graham?"

"Yeah. Where were you?" The man stepped closer to Emma's bed, stopping at the side with a quirked brow. "Your parents said you came home and went straight up here. Ruby and Belle tried to call you, but you wouldn't answer."

"I must have fallen asleep." Emma shrugged, her eyes falling to her lap.

"But you left early. I thought you were going to leave with Ruby and Belle?" Graham cocked his head to one side, thumbs in his belt loops. "They barely saw you at the dance."

"Well, I didn't see them."

"Did you even go?"

"Yeah. And it was the worst mistake of my life." Emma snapped, scooting to the corner of her bed. With a frown, her friend perched on the edge of the mattress and looked at the blonde.

"Well, I knew that you didn't like dances, but I didn't think this much." His eyes skated over her bed, covered in blankets, and landed on her face after finding nothing to answer whatever question he had floating around.

"It's not because of that." The blonde rolled her eyes and brought her knees to her chest.

"Ruby said you went with Killian." Graham's brow rose once again. "I thought you were dating Regina?"

"I am." Emma guided her attention to her toes. Unclipped and boring.

"Oh…"

"I didn't _fucking_ cheat on her, if that's what you think." She hissed, snapping her head up. "I told her that I was going with him. She was there, too, but as one of the teacher chaperone peoples. We- we were supposed to dance after Killian and I were done. Sneak out, y'know?"

"What happened?" His voice was quiet.

"Shit. I fucked up." Emma shrugged.

"Emma. _What happened?_ " Graham repeated himself, this time, his voice not showing any sign of play. No dancing around the subject. Of course, that was Graham. When he wanted answers, he got them. Emma was glad that he could keep his secrets.

"Killian Jones happened." Emma snarled. "I even told him. I-I told him before we got into the gym."

"Told him what?"

"That I liked chicks." She muttered, tugging at a lock of hair. "He was joking when he asked, but I answered him seriously. I thought, he had taken me seriously."

"What the hell did he do?"

Emma balled her fists and brought her gaze to meet with Graham's. "It was a slow song playing and he insisted we danced. I wanted to reject it, and I regret not doing it. And then he kissed me. Halfway through the song, he put his hands on my ass and _kissed me_."

"He kissed you? Is that what this is- Wait." Graham's eyes lit up as he put the pieces to this puzzle together and the full image lay in front of him. "You said Regina was there, correct?"

"Uh, yeah."

"I take it that she saw-"

"Yes," Emma quickly answered, "and she ran off. I couldn't find her."

"You couldn't find her?"

"Yeah." The blonde shrugged. "I tried to call her, but she didn't answer."

And then she began to feel the familiar tug of tears and the blur in her vision. It brought tears to her eyes knowing Regina was probably hurt. It was the last thing that she had ever wanted to happen to the brunette.

"Emma…"

"I can't believe that I hurt her like this." Emma buried her face in her hands, taking several deep breaths to calm herself, easing the constriction in her throat.

"But, didn't Killian kiss _you_? Didn't you stop it?"

"I tried. I did. I pushed him away. But she didn't see that, I don't think."

Graham leaned forward, his head tilted to one side as he stared at the blonde with keen interest. "Didn't you tell her what happened?"

"I couldn't get a hold of her. She was gone before I even made it out of the gym." Emma shifted, taking a deep inhalation of air as she pressed her back to the headboard.

"Why wouldn't she answer you?"

"I-I don't know. She's probably hurt. The way we looked and that song- She probably thinks that I did it on purpose. She probably thinks I _hurt_ her on _purpose_."

"Emma, calm down." He frowned and reached out to set a gentle hand on her forearm, giving it a squeeze. "Did you try contacting her after that?"

"Yeah. I sent her three texts." The blonde grabbed her phone from the nightstand and woke it up. No new messages.

"And I called her twice. The first time, she didn't pick up. And the second, it was dial tone."

"Shit…"

"Yeah, shit. I fucked up!" Emma threw her phone across the room, causing it to break apart; the back flew away from the front, and the battery landed in one of the blonde's shoes. "I fucking _love_ her and I fucked it up. How the hell am I going to survive knowing that she _hates my guts?_ "

"Emma," Graham's voice was nothing but a mere sigh. His hand slid from the blonde's forearm to rest on her trembling back. "You have to give it some time. _More_ time. You're overreacting. It hasn't even been twenty-four hours, yet. I'm pretty sure you'd need time too, if something were to happen to you in a similar situation."

"Time _!_ I _hate_ time!"

"Yeah? Well, you'll just have to live with it! Time is a part of life and it's needed in order for things to progress. Let time run its course, and before you know it, things will start to get better. I know that it sounds like a load of bullshit right now, but trust me, it _will_ get better."

Emma's eyes were as wide as saucers as she lifted her gaze to meet with her friend's. She could only nod.

"Good. Now, why don't you get your ass ready and come with me? Ruby, Belle, and I planned on doing some stuff today, but you won't know until you find out." He coaxed, scooting himself off the bed. "Leave that damn phone here, too. It's all broke anyways."

"What if- What if she calls?"

"Who cares! Do you want her to know that you've been wasting your life away at that phone for her?"

"Yes!" Emma protested, scrambling from her spot to the edge of the bed where she nearly clobbered the man sitting there.

"Well, fuck her!"

She blanched and muttered, "I do."

Graham stood there for a moment before turning around to spot a pair of socks on the floor, the ones from yesterday, no doubt, and picked them up to toss at Emma's face, both his brows raised.

"Get ready. And if you're not downstairs in five minutes, I'm dragging you with me despite what you're wearing; with or without that phone." And with that, he was stomping out of the room.

Emma made haste to gather her phone first, putting the pieces back together to stuff the entirety of it in her sweater pocket. Luckily the damned thing didn't shatter. Her parents would have been _pissed_.

Nibbling on her lower lip, she quickly tried to find a pair of jeans to pull on and slipped the socks that Graham had thrown at her on as well. Her shoes were by the door, so it was easy to slip them on before jogging down the stairs to meet with Mary Margaret and Graham, chatting at the kitchen table.

"You threw your phone?" The pixie-haired woman's stern question startled Emma at the bottom of the stairs.

"Y-yeah…"

"Why? Is it broke?"

"No. And I was angry." The blonde slowly walked over to her mother, shooting Graham daggers on her way. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

"You better not. I won't buy you another one."

"I won't." She repeated.

Graham stood from his spot, a smirk playing on his face as he headed toward the door with an expectant look.

"Don't stay out too late." Mary Margaret warned, gazing up at her daughter.

"No promises. I might stay the night with Ruby and Belle. I'll text you."

"Emma," Her mother sighed, playing with the mug of coffee in her hands.

"Graham's only here for these two-"

"Actually, I'm on winter break. I'll be here for a couple weeks." Graham interrupted, raising a hand. "So-"

" _Thanks_." Emma rolled her eyes, one arm crossing over the other.

Mary Margaret bit her lower lip before speaking, looking up at her daughter with those same eyes from last night. "You can stay the night, dear, since it'll be a school week next week."

"Yeah, only four days. Stupid finals," the blonde muttered, but smiled and bent down to wrap her arms around the brunette. "Thank you!"

"Yes, now go, before I change my mind."

"Let's beat it." Emma quickly made her way to the door, following behind her male friend as he made his way out.

* * *

"Where the hell were you?" Ruby immediately asked upon Emma and Graham's arrival to the room the latter had booked for his stay.

She and Belle were both sitting on the couch, looking at the blonde with raised brows. Graham must have told them that he was going to retrieve Emma with the way they seemed so expectant for his arrival. _Their arrival_ , she mended.

"Home."

"Come on. Why don't we go do something?" Graham suggested, gesturing his head toward the door. "We can go down to the docks like old times."

"Or go grab a bite at Granny's. I'm starving." Emma mumbled.

"Yeah."

"No! She's gotta tell us why she ditched us!" Ruby hoisted herself up from the couch and stalked over to Emma, glaring. The other brunette was soon behind her, nodding.

"I didn't even see you there," Emma retorted. "So, I left."

"You didn't look hard enough."

"We saw you." Belle was quick to add.

"Then why didn't you come to me?"

"Oh, honey, I'm pretty sure _everyone_ saw you." The brunette waitress laughed, gently shoving the blonde's shoulder. "You were macking on Killian in the middle of the room. I wasn't going to interrupt _that_."

Emma growled and crossed her arms. "You should have."

"Let me guess, he did it without you wanting him to?"

"Do I really have to answer that or have you two already forgotten also?" The blonde rolled her eyes, shifting the weight from one foot to the other.

"What do you mean?" Belle asked calmly, stepping beside Ruby now to give her friend a concerned look.

"I told Killian before we even entered the dance. He kinda asked the wrong question and I sorta said yes. But, the thing that pissed me off, was that he kissed me anyways. And it just…" Emma trailed off, swallowing thickly at the memories that had happened afterwards.

"Is that why you went home so early, then? Did he upset you?" That was Ruby, taking a step forward as if to protect her.

"Yeah. Pretty much."

"I'll kill him." The waitress growled. "I'm sorry that I forced you to go with that perv in the first place."

"It's fine." Emma shrugged. "Can we just go eat and do something?"

"Emma wants to get her mind off things." Graham elaborated, stepping up from behind the blonde. "That's the only reason why I got her to come willingly with me."

"Fine." Ruby's eyes narrowed, focused on the blonde who returned the look with a quirked brow.

"What?"

"You'll be telling me more details later. Count on that."

"I won't!" Emma smirked, quickly making her way toward the door that connected with the diner on the other side of the room. She could hear Ruby scoff and yell something at her, while both Belle and Graham laughed, the latter speaking.

"Look who put you in your place."

"She won't last," Ruby muttered, causing Emma to roll her eyes once again.

The four of them soon got situated in a booth, Ruby's replacement waitress – or so Emma liked to call her – took their orders. As they waited for their food and drinks, they began to reminisce with Graham. Most of it were things that Emma had talked with him about the weekend she went to Boston. How were his classes? Did he find anyone to date yet? How's the weather? What's your apartment like? Any new replacement friends?

Then he was asked about what they had done when Emma was up there, both Graham and Emma froze in their spots. Emma's doe-eyes stared blankly at Ruby, who had asked the question, as the man next to her did the same.

Hopefully they didn't look guilty, because they would get the wrong idea. She knew how Ruby's mind worked at times, and she would assume they had done _something_ considering the way they had frozen in place just now.

"We went to watch a show and ate dinner." Emma quickly muttered. "And, uh, went to a shop. I bought a necklace. That one I told you I got in Boston?"

"Oh, the one that you're wearing now?" Belle tilted her head, a finger rising to point at the swan pendant around her neck, contrasting against the black sweater that she wore.

"Yeah." The blonde nodded, a hand immediately going up to capture the small pendant in her hand. It was the only part of Regina she had, and believe it or not, had helped her keep it together some of the time because it brought back those great memories.

"That's all? Sounds boring." The brunette teased.

"We talked, really. Most of the time we stayed at the apartment and watched television." Graham added with a shrug. He played with the glass of soda set in front of him as the waitress had come back with the drinks. "We couldn't really go anywhere. It was busy as hell."

"It still sounds boring. Why didn't you go to any clubs or anything? Do something fun?" Ruby smirked.

"Because I know Emma hates them. It'd be pointless." He shrugged, sipping from his drink.

Emma did the same, a wry look on her face. "Unlike you, Ms. I'll-Drag-Your-Ass-There-Against-Your-Will."

"You end up liking-"

Belle slowly shook her head, leaving Ruby's words to fade into the air. "It's too loud, Ruby. And Em only likes the food."

"True." The blonde nodded, bringing her burger close to her as it was given to her. "If there was one way to make me happy, it would be to give me food. I really like food."

"Yeah, we know." Ruby chuckled. "You always order, like, a jillion things when you're here."

"I have an idea about how we'll get Emma to feel better." Belle smiled widely. "Food. We'll have a food party tonight."

"And video games?" Emma peeped in hopefully. "Gaming goes good with food."

"Hell yeah, I'm up for that!" Graham whole-heartedly agreed, a wide smile on his face. "Then maybe I'll beat your ass at that game."

"Good luck." The blonde muttered, shoving a few french-fries in her mouth. Ruby and Belle both shook their heads with an eye roll.

"You bitches will be playing with us. I have Mario Party, don't you worry." The blonde smirked.

"What, so you can scream at us when you lose a mini-game? I don't think so." Ruby quickly shook her head, although a playful smirk was evident on her face.

"What? No! I don't do that."

"You go ballistic every time you lose and throw your controller." Belle quietly added in. "You bruised my arm last time."

"I won't do it. I promise." Emma pleaded, puffing out her lower lip to guilt them into it. "Do it for me. The sad, sad little Emma that needs all cheered up."

"Yeah, come on guys. Do it for puppy-dog Ems." Graham shoved the blonde's side teasingly as the two gave a collective sigh.

"Fine."

"Sweet!" Emma grinned. That should take her mind off the buzzing worries in it. Gaming usually helped, and a little ass-kicking would do her some good.

* * *

"That's so fucking unfair!" Emma screeched, throwing her controller across the living room of her apartment. Mary Margaret yelled a quick reprimand, but the blonde hadn't paid any attention.

"You lost fair and square, Emma!"

"No, I did not! That fucker pushed me off!" The blonde huffed, crossing her arms as she angrily sat back against the couch.

Ruby shook her head and smirked. "But that's the concept of the game."

"Stupid concept."

"My, _god_ , you _are_ a sore loser." Belle just shook her head as Graham had a party of his own, laughing like a hyena beside Emma.

"It's intense when we play those other games together. She bitches every time I shoot her." Graham continued to chuckle, patting Emma on the back.

"Mario Party is a friendship ruining game. Why did you guys let me play this?" The blonde absently mumbled, going to retrieve the controller that Mary Margaret had picked up from the kitchen.

"Emma, mind your language."

"Sorry," Emma mumbled, heading back to the couch. "We should play something else."

"All games are winning/losing based; I don't think they're going to work out." Ruby flipped through the stack of game cases by the system, a brow quirked at her blonde friend. "So, it's either this or some I-Spy shit."

"That's Mary Margaret's." Emma shooed the brunette waitress away from the screen as she rolled her dice to move.

"I know a game that you might like that has no winning or losing to it." Belle mumbled from the other side of the blonde, tentatively pressing buttons on her controller when it had become her turn.

"What is it?" Emma turned, suddenly curious as to what it would be. Of course, there were games like that, but most were boring as hell. She couldn't fathom why people would enjoy games where you search for things on a picture or whatever those games were about.

"It's for the computer." The brunette bookworm explained, which had Emma rolling her eyes. If Belle was about to suggest she play one of those puzzle games… "It's called _The Cat Lady_."

"What?" Emma snorted. "That doesn't sound the least bit interesting, sorry. I don't want to play with herds of cats, or whatever the fuck."

"No. It's not like that at all. Really, it doesn't have much to do with cats themselves. I mean, you get to play a cat for five seconds, but it has a really beautiful storyline. I really think you should try it. I bet you'd like it."

"I don't know, Belle. The title itself is turning me off." The blonde crinkled her brows.

"No, she's right. I watched her play it." Ruby twisted around to face the two from the floor and gave a wolfish grin. "There was a lot of blood and, in one scene, naked boobs."

"Boobs?" Emma smirked. "Blood? Now _that_ sounds like my kind of game."

"Yeah, it's a horror game." Graham finally added. "I had seen some videos about it on the internet, but haven't played it myself."

"Huh. Where do I get this from?" Emma asked, curious about this bloody, horror game. If it was as good as they said it was, she would surely enjoy it, right?

"I have a copy of it at home. You can have it." Belle smiled.

"Well, whenever we're done here, you can give it to me." Emma grinned. "But, right now, I want to finish this game and eat some dinner."

"I'll give it to you tomorrow. I don't want to go back to the house tonight." Belle muttered, focusing her attention back onto the screen.

"It's fine. It's something that I'll be playing by myself, anyways." The blonde shrugged.

But for now, it was time to just enjoy this time with her friends and keep her mind off other things. It seemed to be successful as of now, which was good. She hadn't had one thought of Regina since going out with her friends – well, besides the thought of the necklace. Wait, she was thinking about that damned woman now. No. She needed to concentrate on trying to blow her friends off the screen.

Nothing else.

No Regina. No school. No dance. No yesterday.

All that mattered right now was winning this goddamn game.

* * *

It was Monday and Regina still hadn't returned any of Emma's calls or texts. The blonde had sent one last message to the teacher on Sunday, but there was no luck for a reply. Now it was Monday and Emma still had Regina for her fourth period class. It would be the inevitable. They would have to meet face to face, although the blonde would be at the back of the classroom and Regina at the front.

Though, this was the opportunity for Emma to make amends with the brunette teacher. She really wanted everything to go back to the way it used to be. Being apart from Regina had felt like a lifetime of haunting memories, forced to replay in the blonde's mind and an imagination to think up what Regina was going through, if anything. And that swan pendant that she wore only reminded her of the brunette.

It was about time that she would confront the older woman. Three days has been long enough, she thought, and Regina should be ready to hear whatever the blonde had to say. It was a terrible nagging feeling that had found itself embedded in Emma's gut that she had never been able to mend things with the brunette before she had ever left. She wanted to tell her _everything_ that had happened and explain to her what she had been building up in her head for three days.

Three days was too long. _Way_ too long.

And so were three more periods.

Emma only hoped that everything would turn out alright. She didn't think she could handle whatever life that lay ahead of her if Regina were to brush her off. It was painful enough being in this purgatory.

And that answer was still two hours away. An agonizing two hours that Emma wished didn't have to be there. But she had to do _math_ instead of talking with what mattered most.

" _Emma_!" Mr. Spencer's voice had the blonde jumping in her spot, feeling as if she had just been smacked as the thoughts had immediately dissipated.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Can you answer the question on the board instead of spacing out in _my_ class?" The male teacher pointed to a complicated looking problem on the board and Emma nodded, although she had no idea what the hell they were even doing. Perhaps it wasn't for the better to space out during class like she had intended.

The blonde slowly got out of her seat and walked towards the front of the room. She could feel all eyes on her, even a few whispers as she walked by. She pulled her concentration from them and focused on the board.

"Any day now, Swan."

 _Killian_.

Emma tightened her grip on the marker in her hand at the sound of his voice and tried her best to ignore him as she started with the problem. Whatever the hell she was doing, she was doing it correctly.

Of course, they were reviewing. Wednesday was the start of semester tests, after all. This was just something from earlier on in the year. She probably learned it on one of those days she had decided to space out. Regina really had pulled her attention away from classes.

Soon enough, she was finishing up the problem with a confident smile.

"Thank you," Mr. Spencer spoke and retrieved the marker once again as he prepared the next slide.

"Congratulations, Swan, you got one right."

Emma froze in her spot, emerald eyes sliding toward the brunet with a smile on his face, and shot him daggers. " _So_?"

"Just cheering you on. No need to be a crocodile." He rolled his eyes, chuckling at something that someone had said beside him.

Shaking her head, Emma proceeded back to her seat. She wasn't going to play his game today, because if she were to, she would just blow up in his face and, really, she didn't want to do that; at least in front of an entire classroom.

"But I'm sure she wouldn't mind chomping on you some more." A girl from that sat in the spot in front of Emma giggled.

"I bet she'd do it right now if she could." The boy sitting next to Killian put in his two cents. Emma frowned.

"No. She's a carpet-muncher, she would be on the chicks in here." Another boy, the one that sat beside Emma, was quick to expose.

Suddenly, the girl that sat next to Emma and the one in front seemed to gasp with disgust, and the blonde could just _hear_ it, as they moved as far away from her as possible.

"That's disgusting! I want to change seats, Mr. Spencer!" The brunette squealed from beside the blonde, who rolled her eyes.

Really, though, why did they always think that one would immediately hit on them? That girl wasn't even Emma's type. And, for some reason, it had just clicked in Emma's mind that they _knew_ she was gay.

 _Killian_. That traitorous bastard squealed out her secret, and now everyone knew; or at least everyone in this class.

"What's this fuss now?" Mr. Spencer growled from his spot at the desk, looking up to the girl who had spoken his name.

"I don't want to sit next to the _lesbian_." She whispered the word as if it were dirty.

Emma scoffed and crossed her arms tightly over her chest, shrinking down in her seat as the teacher stood up from his desk, eyes boring into the blonde's skull.

Mr. Spencer didn't even respond to the girl. He only pointed to an empty desk at the front of the classroom, which had the teenager out of her old seat in a matter of seconds.

"Thank you. I don't want _her_ to try anything on me."

"What the fuck makes you think I would want anything to do with the likes of _you_?" Emma couldn't help but to sneer, slamming her palms on the desk. "With any of you? This is just so _fucking_ ridiculous! It was just fine before. I wasn't _hitting_ on _you_."

"Emma, will you lower your voice before I send you to Mr. Gold's office?" The teacher warned, staring with harsh eyes at the blonde.

"Excuse me for trying to stand up for myself!" The blonde balled her fists. "What a school system. Let the bullies bully and yell at the victims for growing a pair."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" The boy next to a quiet Killian had spoken.

"What the fuck does that even mean?"

" _Emma Nolan!"_

"Do you even hear this jerkoff?" Emma hissed, then stood up from her seat to gather her items.

"I bet she'd like it." The girl in front of her added.

"Emmett?" Another jeered.

"Oh, just fuck you! Being a lesbian doesn't mean I want to become a fucking _guy_."

"You'd like to fuck me, I bet." That girl spoke, a smirk on her lips. "You'd like to just lick my pu-"

"You wish." Emma quickly threw out, backing up towards the door. "I hope you're happy, Killian. I hope it was worth it."

"Emma, wait!" Killian was starting to get out of his seat now, but the blonde shook her head and opened the door.

"Save it, asshole." And she was gone, marching off toward the office. At least it would be a lot safer there than in that classroom.

Why on earth had she ever trusted that damned boy with her secret? She should have known he would blab it. And he couldn't deny it, either, because he was the only one of a select few that knew.

That's all Emma could keep running through her mind as she made her way down the hallway. But before she had even made it to the office, the bell had rung and students were filing into the hallways. Well, that saved the silly explanation for leaving that class. She could just head to her third period, instead.

And the thought of that sent her heart thrumming in her chest. Only one more period before she was in Regina Mills' class. Gods, she couldn't wait to see that woman again, and hopefully to see her beautiful smile, as well. She really needed it.

She really needed to get her mind off everything. If she wouldn't, she would probably break down at some point during this period with all of what had happened. The emotions building inside of her from second period and the bullies there were stored in a dangerous place. Emma was lucky that she hadn't broken in class.

It was a good thing that she had walked out of the room before she had been pushed passed her limits. She couldn't afford a call to her parents who would, no doubt, question her as to why she would do such a thing. She didn't want them to find out that way. For them to find out, it would be best for her to sit them down. But, seeing as to how nothing bad had happened enough for a call, she didn't have to worry about it. Instead, she could clear her mind. They could run today.

And run she did. Emma had let every worrisome thought melt away as she ran around the gym, although, it would have had a more calming effect on her if she were to be outside. Unfortunately, it was too cold and too snowy outside for them to use the track. The blonde didn't mind, just so long as she could run.

By the end of the period, she was exhausted, but her mind felt pumped and ready to take on the next period, thinking up how to start a conversation with Regina.

Or if Emma would be able to say anything at all, because when she walked through that door to her fourth period Creative Writing class in Ms. Mills' room, she saw _her_ and her breath caught in her throat. It had been the first time in three days that she had seen that woman, and she still looked as gorgeous even if her hair was mussy and her eyes underlined with dark circles.

Emma frowned as she made her way to her desk at the back of the room. Regina didn't seem to pay any notice to her presence. Usually she gave her a smile. That was just another strike to the current reality. Was she really going to ignore her?

With a soft sigh, Emma let her gaze lower to the paper that had been left on her desk from the previous English class. This would be the most unbearable hour of all, Emma had concluded.

Even though she was where she wanted to be, she still had to wait and watch as the brunette with the sad, chestnut eyes stood in the front of the room, helping the class review for the semester exam. With every step that she took and every word that she spoke, Emma could sense the weariness in them, and the way that her tone had changed.

No one else probably noticed, but Emma knew Regina, and this wasn't her. This was someone that had another thing taken from them. She was weighted with demons that were dragging her down; the same ones that Emma had tried so very hard to pick off. It had all ultimately failed in the end, for it was her own fault that they had returned. Only now could Emma hope that she would be able to remove them once again and help Regina back up.

Emma was bound with regrets once again by the end of the period, each one squeezing her heart tighter in her chest until she just could not breathe. As the students filed out of the room, she remained, watching as the brunette teacher made her way over to her desk without a word, or even a look, toward the direction of Emma. She had avoided any eye contact all class period.

Emma closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before standing up, slowly making her way over to the brunette. "Regina?" Her voice was hoarse as she spoke, nothing but a croak as it came from her lips.

"What is it?" The teacher impatiently asked, brown eyes focused on the paper in front of her, although she wasn't exactly seeing it.

"We need to talk."

"We have nothing to talk about."

"Please?" The blonde pleaded, tears already drawing themselves to her eyes.

But that had her removing her reading glasses and setting them aside before looking up at Emma, brown eyes glistening. "So, what? You can hurt me some more? I may be a masochist, but even I have my limits."

"No, Re-Regina, It's- I don't want to hurt you. Believe me on that." Emma tried, dragging her chair over so she could sit in front of the brunette.

"Well, you- you have." She looked away, her voice trembling with each word, and each one had stabbed a needle into Emma's heart. "And I can't talk to you right now."

"It's been _three_ days, Regina." Emma sighed, leaning back in the chair. "Three days and I- I can't _breathe_ without you. It hurts so much to be apart from you. It's really- it's unreal how much you mean to me. And I want you to trust me when I tell you that I love you. I love you so much, I didn't think it possible."

"Emma." Regina slowly shook her head.

"Don't you love me, Regina?" Emma honestly asked.

"Of course, I love you, Emma." She half-laughed, half-cried. "In fact, I love you too much."

"You should let me tell you what happened, Gina." Emma urged, her voice a soft whisper. "If you love me as much as you say, you will let me, because I find it hard to even _live_ without you, with knowing that you could possibly hate me."

"I-I could never hate you, Emma."

"Then let me please explain."

Regina sighed at the blonde's simple plea and Emma tentatively brought her hands up to grab the brunette's, which had her face etching with a debate that had clearly started in her head. Her eyes flickered with hope, and then hurt. But the brunette spoke, squeezing her hands.

"Fine."

"R-really?"

"Emma. Tell me what happened." Regina impatiently clucked and the blonde nodded.

"I told you, uh, before the dance that I accepted Killian's invitation to the Winter Formal. Really, I didn't want to, like, at all. But Ruby insisted and so did Belle, since they were going and wanted me to come. So, since he had always been crushing after me, I accepted it." Emma started, her green gaze locked with Regina's and never leaving as she played with the older woman's olive fingers, then continued as she recounted what all had happened that night.

The blonde just shook her head and finally let her gaze fall to their hands, where Regina had started to play with Emma's own fingers, anxiously lacing them with her own to gently tugging on them or separating them between her own. She remained silent as she soaked up what Emma had just said, only continuing to play with her fingers as she did so.

Then she released the blonde's hands and set her hands on her own lap. Emma's heart sunk at the gesture, her hands balling up.

"I don't know what to say." Regina finally mumbled.

"You don't have to believe me; I guess. But I swear I'm telling you the truth. And I'm- I'm sorry. I can't apologize enough for the way that I have hurt you. I can't even blame it all on him, you know? I'm the idiot that decided to go with him. I'm the idiot that let my friends convince me to go in the first place."

"I believe you, Emma." The brunette reached out to take one of Emma's hands to cradle it in her own.

Emma looked at their hands for a moment before gazing back up to meet Regina's. "And I am so fucking sorry for _everything_. I hurt-" Tears drew themselves to her eyes once again, this time they didn't stay within their boundaries, instead, they spilled down her cheeks in warm, crystalline streams. "I-I hurt you…"

"I know, sweetheart." Regina squeezed Emma's hand before releasing it, using her free hands to wipe away the tears that didn't cease to stroll down the blonde's ruddy cheeks. "Don't cry. It's alright. I forgive you."

"A-are you sure?"

"Shh, shh, I am." Her voice was a soothing hum.

"He's an asshole." Emma shook her head, sniffling her nose to keep the snot from dripping out. "I wish Friday never happened. He doesn't know how to keep a fucking secret, either."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing." Emma shook her head once again and stood up to take the few steps between them. "Can I- Can I just have a hug?"

"I think we both need one."

"I've wanted to hug you ever since entering this room." The blonde wrapped her arms tightly around the now-standing Regina as she engulfed the teenager into her arms, that familiar spicy perfume filling Emma's senses and relaxing every nerve that had been on end since the start of the weekend. All events were gone at the snap of a finger.

"Is that so?" Regina whispered against blonde locks, one hand tied up in the mane itself as the other landed on Emma's ass. And that one _squeezed_ , which had the blonde smiling. She liked it when Regina touched her ass. It was hers and hers only. No one else's.

"I always know when you need a hug. I get a strong urge to give you one, and it only grows stronger the longer I have to wait." Emma purred, pressing herself closer to the brunette. "And you really needed one today. My poor Gina looked so sad. I feel like shit for making you feel like that."

"I feel the same for putting you through this senseless ordeal. I shouldn't have ignored your messages. I just needed time for myself to think." Regina murmured sadly into Emma's ear, her body slightly rocking back and forth.

"You didn't want to talk to me. I understand. I would ignore someone if they did that to me, too; Or string them up by their tits."

"Oh, Emma." Regina cracked a smile, and it was that smile that brought one to Emma's own. There it was. She had been yearning to see that gorgeous smile that could brighten her day within a matter of seconds, no matter how horrible it might have been.

"You should stay with me for the rest of the day," Emma hummed, resting her head on the older woman's shoulder, her smile never fading. "There are too many assholes right now after the biggest one of all."

"Is something wrong out there, darling? You had mentioned something about Killian unable to keep a secret?" Regina tilted her head slightly to press a kiss to the side of Emma's head.

"Yeah, Killian told _somebody_ that I was gay. And it got around, because in my second period class today, it was an absolute shit-storm. Mr. Spencer didn't do shit about it when a girl asked to be moved." She sighed, grabbing onto Regina's shirt as she balled her hands into fists.

Just the thought of earlier had her emotions set back on the roller coaster. Emma could feel the constriction in her throat as she spoke again. Her rage was causing her to shake at the memory.

"They wouldn't stop saying _things_. Killian just sat there. I just walked out. The fucking teacher didn't even care at all that they were saying these things. He _yelled at me_ for defending myself." Her voice rose a couple of octaves, and as it had, she could feel Regina's arms tighten around her.

"I will have a word with him." Regina growled, rubbing soothing circles against Emma's back as the first sob released itself into the teacher's shoulder.

"I want to _hurt_ them all so _badly!_ " Emma cried, her grip tightening. "Maybe then they would fucking get it that I'm the same old me."

" _Honey_. Hey, my swan."

"They all deserve to die!" The blonde hissed, another sob wracking her body.

"Emma." Regina pulled away from the embrace, her hands moving to touch Emma's cheeks, cupping them with gentle palms. "Calm down, sweetheart. I understand that you are angry at them for saying these things. I have been there. But you are _better_ than them, and you are _happy_ with who you are, aren't you?"

"Of course, I am. I have _you_." Emma tried to even her breath, sniffling her nose several times in the process as she gazed into Regina's loving, brown orbs.

"You have something that they don't." Regina whispered, ducking her head to press a chaste kiss to Emma's lips. "And I want you to keep reminding yourself of that. Remind yourself that, sure, they can say these hurtful things about your sexuality, but at least it had given you something that's worth it. That's what I do. I remind myself of you when I'm feeling low."

"I'll remember that." Emma looked down, shame suddenly filling her for reacting in the way that she had toward those people. "I would never change who I am. I was born this way for a reason."

"Good." The brunette said, the sweetest smile on her face. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Emma replied.

Regina made the blonde feel like she was the luckiest woman on earth.

"I really- I really just want to _squish_ you." Emma could help but to comment, the largest smile that she could muster was displayed on her face.

"Please don't," Regina chuckled. "It would hurt."

"I'm sorry." The blonde giggled also, but tried to keep it as quiet as she could so she could hear Regina's own laughter. "But, I just have these _feelings_ and all I can currently translate them is to squish the hell out of you."

"I have those same feelings, dear." Regina laughed again. "But I tend to keep them to myself."

"Well, I honestly wouldn't mind if you squished me. I like it." The blonde gave her a cheesy smile, bursting into laughter when the brunette just shook her head.

"I can think of other ways to show you how I feel."

Those words went straight to her core, no stops, no turns. She knew _exactly_ what the older woman meant by that, and, of course, it would only leave the blonde flustered in her spot.

"You're blushing, dear."

"Yeah, well, you would, too." She let her gaze fall from Regina's face to find the computer behind her suddenly become so interesting.

"If we weren't in school right now, I would make an effort to show you just how much I really feel." The back of Regina's hand ghosted over Emma's cheek and the blonde's breath hitched, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. Her head tilted towards the hand, reveling in the tender caress that it gave.

"It's unfortunate, because that skirt of yours could have made everything far easier." Emma mumbled, opened her eyes with a smirk on her face. The woman in front of her had rosy cheeks, although wore a smirk that could have any villain put to shame.

"If you come over tonight, we will see just how easy this skirt will make things." Regina purred, her tone dropping a couple octaves. "Lock the door and sit down."

"What?" Emma blinked at the sudden command, but didn't defy what the older woman had said as she quickly made her way to the door, locked it, then proceeded to find her seat. Regina was soon sitting down as well, her sharp, brown eyes focused on the blonde's scrunched face.

"How much time do we have left in this period?"

"About, uh…" Emma swallowed thickly as she lifted her eyes to the clock on the far wall. "About half."

"Then we have plenty of time to eat." Her hands were on Emma's thighs in a matter of seconds, which had the blonde slightly squirm, pressing them together to ease the sudden ache thrumming there. Regina wore a devious smile, her eyes sparkling with something almost sinful.

"Gina…?" Emma breathed, her heart rate speeding up incredibly as the brunette let that teasing little tongue of hers slide slowly across her moist, pink lips.

"I'm starving. Did you bring any food?" And, suddenly, she was sitting up, all evidence of what had just happened suddenly gone and replaced with a friendly smile.

"I, uh, sandwich?" Emma turned around and quickly fumbled with her bag, pulling out a small container with two plastic-wrapped sandwiches inside. She quickly opened the plastic, fingers shaking as she retrieved one of the sandwiches to hand to the awaiting teacher.

"Thank you, my swan." Regina seized Emma's wrist and gave her knuckles a few soft kisses.

"I know it's not much. I wasn't really concentrated on making lunch this morning."

"Anything from you is a wonderful treat, Emma. Lest it be a dinner from a five-star restaurant to a simple lunch consisting of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I will love it regardless." The brunette gave Emma a toothy grin.

"Fuck, do I love you?" Emma's cheeks burned, her eyes fluttering to the sandwich in her hands as a sheepish smile lightly graced her lips.

"I love you, too," Regina replied, her voice rich, like honey.

Emma was quiet for a moment as she smiled, those words striking something deep within her heart. "Gina?" The blonde licked her lips, shifting herself forward in the chair.

"Yes, dear?" The brunette gazed up from taking a bite of her sandwich.

"Do you think that you could, uh, come into my second period class?" She hesitated, though there was hope welling within her as she awaited the answer.

"For what?" Regina asked carefully, recollecting what the blonde had told her about that very class.

"Never mind. Forget that I asked. It's stupid, anyways. I know that you can't."

"Tell me why." The brunette left no room for arguments, her visage stoic, though the jelly on the corner of her mouth took away from the serious expression.

"I don't want to go back. I only have tomorrow in there before the semester tests, which wouldn't be as bad since it should be quiet. But, if you were there, I know that I could get through the period." Emma carefully put her words together, her fingers pressing into the bread. "Being with you makes me feel like I can do anything, and with you there, I wouldn't have to care what they would say about me."

"But what business would I have sitting in there for an entire period?"

"None. That's why I shouldn't have asked, because it was stupid." The blonde shrugged, taking a large bite from her sandwich.

"No. It's not stupid, my love. You have given me an idea."

"I did?"

"Yes." Regina nodded, sitting back in her chair with a smile. "I can pull you out of class, if you wish. You are only reviewing, correct? You're good at math, I don't think you need to sit in there for an entire hour, do you?" When Emma quietly shook her head, she continued. "I will make up a bullshit reason for you to come down. My second period class is large, but you could sit at my desk."

"Would you really do that for me?" Emma asked, sitting up.

"If you would like me to, dear. But I cannot promise anything. I would have to get someone in here to fill in for the time that I am gone." The brunette only shrugged, smiling at the blonde who had started to tear up.

"Thank you, Regina. It- it really means a lot that you would do that."

"You are my, uh, _girlfriend_ after all. I want nothing more than for you to be happy."

Emma brought a hand up to rest on the brunette's soft, olive cheek and gazed into those eyes, like a swirling sea of coffee, both rich and pure. It was a beautiful sight; wondrous, warm, and inviting. Emma found herself frequently captivated by the twinkle in those orbs that sent her heart thudding against her chest in a rapid tattoo.

Her body, like a magnet, slowly leaned towards Regina's body in an attraction that could not be stopped. She could feel the older woman do the same until both were mere inches apart, their lips parted with heavy breaths. Emma could feel the tingles already, coursing through her body in a pleasant pulse, descending from her head to her toes.

"My beautiful swan." Regina whispered just before she closed the distance, her lips capturing Emma's in a slow, tender kiss.

And then the bell rang, though the two failed to pull apart. Emma didn't care whatsoever about that damned bell. She would rather be late to sixth period than have to give up a kiss with Regina. It was the sweetest thing where every cell in her body buzzed with excitement, her toes curling ever so slightly in her shoes as the older woman tilted her head to deepen the kiss.

Emma's fingers curled into raven locks as she pressed her upper half into the brunette, whose hand had found itself on the blonde's cheek. A soft moan formed in Emma's throat as the burning in her lower belly seemed to flare to life the more Regina moved to kiss her, tongue filling the blonde's mouth with the taste of cinnamon coffee and peanut butter. Everything was so much sweeter when mixed with Regina, Emma absently thought, her hands moving at a frenzy along the older woman's back. Then one of them had found its way to Regina's chest, covering one of the mounds of flesh over the soft silk.

"Emma," Regina groaned breathlessly, back arching into the teenager's touch. Emma growled softly and proceeded to knead the brunette's breast through her shirt, the kiss turning into frantic desperation. "Oh, _gods_ , please. I-I need you."

"Yeah?" The blonde muttered against the brunette's cheek as she let that hand fall to Regina's hip with the other, sensually sliding them down her thighs to the hem of her pencil skirt, then back up, pulling the fabric with it.

" _Yeah_." Her grip on Emma's hair had tightened, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps as the blonde's hand slid up the inside of her thigh, disappearing under the skirt.

"Good." Emma smirked, pressing a kiss to Regina's cheek before soon trailing her lips down the side of her neck. "Spread your legs for me."

Regina did just that, her knees on either side of Emma's own legs. The blonde smirked and continued to kiss her way down the brunette's neck, stopping at the crook to tease the skin with her teeth as her fingers did the same, gracing the surface of Regina's satin panties.

"Fuck me," Regina pleaded, her hips bucking into Emma's hand.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Emma whispered against Regina's heated, olive skin. "It's risky."

"I know. We should really stop." The brunette's fingers tried desperately to grasp at Emma's sweater when the blonde pushed the panties aside to tease the teacher's entrance with a finger.

"Yeah." Emma nipped at the older woman's skin, a digit slowly pushing itself into Regina, causing her hips to buck and grind against it for more pressure.

" _Oh,_ " The brunette gasped, her nails digging into the black sweater now.

 _Beeeeeep_.

"Shit." Emma puffed against her lover's neck. "That was the end of the passing period. I need to go. I already missed Friday."

" _Fuck_!" Regina hissed, leaning back against her chair as the blonde slipped her digit out and brought her hands to herself. "You will _definitely_ owe me, darling."

"Oh, the makeup sex will be worth the wait." Emma gave the panting teacher a sly smile just before sticking her finger in her mouth. "Get yourself off if you need to, or hold it, I don't care. But I'll be sure to make you come until you can't think straight."

"You are evil, Emma." Regina huffed, pulling her skirt down.

"No, Gina, _you_ are. You're the Evil Queen, after all." The teenager let out a guffaw as she picked her bag up and slung it over her shoulder. "Make sure you get yourself nice and horny for me, okay? I'll see you after school."

"Oh, dear, I already am all hot and bothered. I just need _you_ to extinguish the fire between my thighs." The brunette watched as the blonde shook her head, walking towards the door.

"I will, don't worry." Emma winked and unlocked the door, but had stopped short. "I, uh, need a pass."

"Right." Regina purred, pulling out a stack of pass papers from her drawer to make on out for the blonde. "Should I put in 'fucking the teacher' as the reason for tardiness, or…?"

"I don't think that's a wise idea." Emma chuckled, taking the pass from the brunette as she handed it to her. "Although, how accurate it would be."

"Not exactly." Regina shot the student a sardonic look.

"Oh, shut it." Emma stuck her tongue out before whipping around to the door once again.

"Put that tongue to better use, my dear." She heard behind her, which had the blonde smirking to herself and shout behind her as she left the class.

"Don't worry, I will!"


	18. The Finals Are Upon Us

"I hope no one else gave you any trouble, did they?" Regina asked, setting a glass of apple juice in front of Emma before taking a seat next to her on the couch.

They were at the brunette teacher's house, which had become something of a second home to the blonde. She found herself here quite often, spending more time at the small mansion than her own loft. She even managed to memorize the layout of the place and knew exactly where everything was if she ever needed anything, or Regina asked her to grab a thing.

It was nice to be in a place where she was welcome. A place where she felt so at home; but, then again, wherever she was, she felt like she was at _home_ when she was with the brunette. It was a strange way to put it, or so Emma had thought, but it _was_ the best way to describe how Emma felt with the older woman.

"No, thankfully." She answered, a subtle smile on her face. "It was just the assholes in my second period. They weren't in any of my other classes."

"That's good." Regina wrapped her arms around Emma's waist, pulling the teenager against her body. "So, dear, how was your day?"

Emma gasped softly as tender lips pressed against the sensitive flesh just below her ear. The blonde tilted her head slightly, her skin pebbling with goose flesh. "My day started out shitty, but during and after lunch, it got better. You make me happy."

"I am glad to hear that, my swan." The brunette grinned as Emma turned her head to meet whisky orbs. "You certainly make me happier."

One of Regina's hands slowly made its way up the blonde's sweater-covered arm, continuing its voyage up the side of her neck until it reached Emma's rosy cheek. The smile on the teenager's face only grew as she nuzzled the olive flesh, the softest of mewls slipping from those pink, parted lips.

"I'm baking." Emma whispered.

"Take that thing off, then, dear. You won't need it for much longer, anyways." Regina's words were a sensual purr, mixing kindly with the fingers that slowly eased the black sweater up even as she spoke. "It will prove difficult to make love to you if you were to continue wearing this silly thing."

And as the sweater was pulled over her breasts, Emma began to grow more excited. There was no reason for wearing this heinous thing, but the anticipation of keeping it on only to tease the brunette fueled her to speak.

"Don't," she whispered.

"I thought you wanted-" The brunette's voice was soft, tentative, and her eyes almost lost as emerald stared into the searching browns.

"I-I do, I just-" The blonde's gaze dropped almost shamefully as her words were lost. Okay. Maybe not a good idea.

"What is it, Emma?" Now the teacher was sitting straight up, her eyes attracted to Emma's mortified face. Her grip tightened around the blonde. "We don't have to have sex. It's fine."

"I want to…" Emma sighed, pulling her sweater over her head, though she had left her arms covered in the bunched fabric. "I-I'm sorry."

"Are you-" The brunette leaned forward, her mouth mere inches from Emma's ear. The blonde shivered as Regina whispered the rest of the question, "on your period? Because, if you are, I will get you some chocolate and we can cuddle."

"What? No!" Emma gasped, moving from the surprised brunette's grip. "I mean, that would be nice and I would like that very much, but I'm not on my period. Don't worry. No bloody twat today."

"O-okay." Regina blinked slightly, her eyes momentarily lowering to said area before raising to meet with Emma's. "Then what's wrong, Emma?"

"Nothing." She shrugged, leaning back into her girlfriend's arms. "It's nothing, Gina."

"Well, if you're sure."

"I am."

"What would you like to do?" Regina smiled, setting her chin on the blonde's shoulder as her arms tightened over the younger woman's belly.

"Anything that you want." Emma leaned into her, quite content in this spot. She loved being held by Regina. It made her feel _safe_ and _secure_ , and it put away every drop of worry.

"That is quite easy to answer." Regina whispered into Emma's ear, causing the hairs on her body to stand on end. "I want _you_."

The English teacher's tongue deliciously laved across the soft, pale flesh below Emma's ear. The sensation shot straight to her core, where the fire brewing in her belly roared to life with a desire that only Regina could stir, and ultimately satisfy.

" _Oh…_ " Emma swallowed thickly, her heart already hammering in her chest. "Then, we'll do that."

"Mm, good…" Regina's voice was soft and sensual as one hand moved to rid of the bundled sweater in Emma's arms, the other provocatively made its way up the blonde's abdomen to the swell of her chest. She gave a gentle squeeze, resulting in a slightly squirming Emma as she arched into the touch.

"Do you like that?" The older woman squeezed the teenager's breast once again, resulting in a soft moan, which was mirrored by a sultry groan of Regina's own. Her head lowered, lips meeting the shell of Emma's ear. "Do you want me to do it some more?"

"Please…" Emma gasped when Regina did just that, her second hand sliding under the thin fabric of the blonde's black top.

"I know you liked it." She muttered against porcelain skin, her teeth gently teasing the flesh with gentle nips in time with the circular rub of her hand.

"I enjoy anything from you." Emma shifted to press her thighs together as the wandering hand slid up her shirt and over the twitching muscles of her abs. Oh, was this woman ever a tease?

" _Anything_?" Emma could hear the older woman's smirk. Suddenly, the blonde could feel a sharp pain as Regina's nails were digging into the flesh of her stomach. The grip soon faltered, the hand continuing as Regina chuckled, acting as if it hadn't happened.

"I know you like the pain." She whispered, fingers caressing the smooth expanse of skin, stopping every so often when her fingers came across the crescent grooves left by her nails.

"Sometimes," Emma replied, biting her lip with a slight wince.

The brunette hadn't seemed to notice, for she only chuckled again, the sound a melody that, combined with her gentle touches, had the throb between her thighs only intensify. She shifted in her spot, subtly grinding her sensitive flesh against the seam of her tight jeans for some sort of relief.

This, Regina did notice. She retracted the hand from Emma's breast and pressed it against her thigh to cease her movements.

"You let me do that." A wicked smile reflected Emma's flushed cheeks. "You impatient little Swan."

"I am a _horny_ , impatient, little Swan." Emma grumbled, though the smile on her face fully reached her eyes. "And this Swan needs to get fucked by her Queen."

"I'm your Queen, now?" Regina smiled, eyes softening incredibly.

"Yeah. You _are_ the Evil Queen, after all."

"Oh, _yes_." And just like that, those molten brown orbs darkened as lust drove away any other intentional emotions. "Well, let's see where that takes us."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. But you must come with me so I can show you." Regina gently removed herself from her position and stood, hand reaching down to grab Emma's forearm.

"Come. Let us go to the Queen's bedchambers." Regina growled, tugging the blonde off the couch as she made habit to move toward the bedroom upstairs. Emma anxiously followed behind, the excitement buzzing in her brain like bees, dizzying her.

"There's no rush. We have all night." Emma gasped from behind Regina who had shifted in a way that had the seam of Emma's jeans pressing tantalizingly against her sensitive core.

"Are you alright, love?" Regina's brows were knit together. She had caught the blonde's latest wince and took a step into her personal space. Muddy eyes met with grassy green, dropping only moments later to her grip on Emma's arm.

"I'm alright. Just my jeans. It's touching me in my no-nos."

"You're a weirdo, Emma." Regina chuckled, her eyelids fluttering shut as she brought Emma's left arm up to her mouth, giving the soft and delicate skin a few kisses. "But you're _my_ weirdo."

"Thanks, Gina, _thanks_." Emma's lips twitched, pulling upward until she was bursting into a flow-blown smile. This had caused a smile on Regina's own face; small, but still genuine and sweet as hell that still sent Emma's heart fluttering like a trapped butterfly in her chest.

"But you're _sexy_ as hell," the teacher continued, her voice far huskier. Her sweet smile turned devious as Emma's arm was brought slower to it, her tongue sliding out to connect with porcelain flesh.

The fire in Emma's lower belly returned to life with a vengeance, and even more so, turning into a desperate, yearning ache as Regina used that little pink muscle to lave across a few connecting moles on Emma's arm.

"Gina," she breathed, slightly wincing in response to her delicious acts.

Regina looked up, albeit, her mouth remained, kissing the back of her hand before finally pulling away. Emma's eyes found themselves caught in her brunette lover's, pupils dilated with desire, appearing almost black. Her breath caught in her throat when those eyes bore into her, exposing every ounce of desire that her cells were buzzing with, which had now blown into full-on frenzy as every fiber of her being tingled with excitement.

"Come with me to the bed," the older woman whispered, sliding her hand down to lace their fingers together; olive entwined with ivory.

"Okay." The blonde followed the short distance behind Regina to the bed, anxiously shifting from one foot to the other as she hesitated. The brunette turned to face her, arms snaking around Emma's neck. And then she was leaning forward, her lips pressing against the teenager's in a fiery explosion of passion that sent Emma's head spinning.

It had taken the blonde a few heartbeats to regain herself, but when she did, the teacher brought Emma's body flush against her own.

Regina's breath, labored, hit Emma's skin like a hot spring's steam, her hands twisted in golden locks, untangling and re-tangling as they tried to find purchase on Emma's flushed cheeks. The blonde's limbs worked to their own accord, though had far more inappropriate motives than Regina's own as one landed on the brunette's posterior end, the other working diligently at the buttons to the teacher's blazer.

It was Regina to be the first to pull away from the kiss, panting for air with a smirk on her face.

"Someone is sure eager." Her voice was sensual, sending shivers through Emma's body, and that throbbing ache between her thighs only grew.

It was soft, like silk, but husky enough to send her blazer to the floor, her blouse soon following. Emma now knew what impatience was, and she was sure acting on her own impulse, unable to handle the wait any longer.

"I've been horny all goddamn day for you." Emma purred, fingers teasing the black lace of Regina's brassiere.

"Good," Regina murmured breathlessly as Emma's curious digits didn't relent and slipped underneath the fabric, teasing the brunette's already pert nipple.

" _Mhm_ …" The blonde cupped the older woman's breast, squeezing it as said woman began to unbutton Emma's jeans. "I'm so wet for you."

Regina made a sound of pleasure, the smile on her face telling Emma that she approved. She moved forward, lips inches from Emma's as her fingers tugged on the belt loops of the teenager's tight jeans.

"I'll make it all the easier as I make love to you." Regina growled, pulling those jeans down her young lover's ass and thighs.

Emma obediently kicked them off, though, she stared at Regina with wide, green eyes. "Make love to me?"

"Yes, dear. Is it so hard to comprehend that I? I would like to take my time with you, to love you like you deserve. So, get out of my brassiere and show yourself to the bed."

Emma swallowed thickly at the demand, her heart thundering in her ears. The woman in front of her stared with searing eyes and a face that held no arguments.

"Want me to take my clothes off?"

"That would be nice, dear." Regina shifted away from the younger woman as she retracted her hand and began to undress. Meanwhile, the brunette turned to face the bed and began to pull the covers back, revealing immaculate, gold satin sheets.

 _The best kind_ , Emma thought, tossing her shirt to the side before taking her animal print bra off, flinging it across the room with a playful smirk. Regina watched and rolled her eyes, perching on the edge of the bed.

"What?"

"It's a good thing I like your boobs, you petulant blonde." Regina's smile grew upon eye contact with Emma, her hand somewhere up her skirt to remove the stockings.

"I like your boobs, too." Emma smirked, clambering onto the bed behind Regina to unclasp her bra. "They're pretty and really soft."

"Like a plush toy, are they?" The brunette chuckled, rolling her stockings down as Emma slowly pushed the bra straps off her shoulders; pink mouth attaching to the smooth, tanned flesh.

"Hell yeah. I have a stuffed turtle that reminds me of your tits."

Regina chuckled and stood up, away from Emma's grasp to push her skirt down over her hips. It pooled around her ankles onto the floor and she stood there as Emma took in an eyeful. And, oh gods, the amount of Regina's bare ass hanging out of those skimpy panties had Emma's mouth watering.

Then she turned around, a small smirk on her face when she had noticed where the blonde's eyes were. A soft giggle bubbled from her lips when Emma had tried to appear innocent. The brunette hadn't said a word as she silently stalked back over to the bed and crawled in on her knees in front of the blonde.

"Boobs," Emma muttered, eyes somehow managing to attract to the exposed mounds in front of her face. Quickly, she fixed her eyes on Regina's who had chuckled softly, knowing that whatever her little improve was had saved her from having to admit to staring at the English teacher's ass.

"Aren't you cute?" Regina smiled, wrapping her arms around the blonde, bringing their bare flesh tightly together.

Both groaned against one another, their mouths opening wide until they were on the verge of swallowing each other's face. Regina's tongue, like a wad of cinnamon bubble gum, found its way into Emma's mouth, exploring and tasting every nook and cranny as she had in a familiar inspection. Emma had been quick to greet said tongue, marveling in the sweetness as both caressed each other like old lovers.

The moan that she had given was enough to send the blonde into a frenzy, wanting to hear the same noises come from her brunette lover. She always enjoyed giving Regina pleasure, if not for the single fact of the sounds that she had made when in ecstasy. It was a delicious thing that Emma always found herself craving for more and never ceased to get it.

But it was Regina who had made the first move, lowering Emma's back to the mattress as she slowly crawled on top of her. In their new position, the blonde wrapped her legs around Regina's waist, her lips detaching to pepper light kisses across the darker woman's jawline.

The older woman mewled, her lips slightly parted as Emma continued, proceeding down olive flesh with delicate kisses. Her fingers skidded across Regina's smooth back, which had earned her another delicious moan shooting straight to the center of her arousal.

" _Touch me_ …" Emma purred into the brunette's ear, her moist breath sending shivers down Regina's spine, causing her to tremble above the blonde.

"I will," she promised, hand moving from the position beside Emma's hand to trail anxious fingers down fair skin, tracing every scrumptious curve of her side.

Emma shuddered, anticipation hitting hard as she stared into those dazzling brown eyes above her. Her breath came in gasps when those exploring digits lowered, halting at the waistband of her panties before taking a completely different path up north.

The blonde's muscles twitched underneath Regina's hand, urging for it to go further down into forbidden territory. She groaned, short nails digging into Regina's back. "Please," she whimpered, as the brunette only smirked, a teasing gesture; and sinister to say the least.

Regina hadn't replied to her lover's plea, instead she silently slid her hand back down the blonde's abdomen, the anxious muscles in her lower belly burned with excitement, and her hips bucked almost involuntarily for more contact.

" _Gina_."

The name was nothing but a sharp intake of air when the brunette finally had granted her request, fingers slipping underneath the thing fabric of her undergarments to explore the tender flesh that had her grinding against the hand.

"You certainly are _drenched_ , aren't you, dear?" Regina whispered into Emma's ear, a seductive growl that made her _tremble_.

"Y-yes… I'm so ready for you." Emma choked her words as Regina let her fingers move across the slick flesh, delving between the folds. The blonde brought her hips thrusting upwards, already selfish for more of the mocking touches. It hadn't taken long from that point as things were set into motion and her climax was approaching.

Emma completely blanked when it _did_ approach, the world around her seemed to slow down, except for the teacher's movements as they continued to pump into her body with delicious reprise, holding out her orgasm as it reached limits that she had never known.

Emma could feel herself landing, coming down hard from the high she wished would never have ended. Her body trembled slightly as she sagged against the bed, Regina's hands pulling away from her pulsing center to give them a good clean with her tongue.

"Fluffy panther kitten…" Emma couldn't help but to mutter. Regina had reminded her of a cat as she licked her fingers, as well as that smirk that look like a cat who had caught the canary.

"Pardon?" The brunette paused mid-lick, a brow quirked.

"It was something I called you a while ago, before we started dating." The blonde blushed, closing her eyes. "And you reminded me of a cat by licking your fingers."

"Well, that certainly does qualify as one of the strangest things that I have heard coming from you." Regina shook her head and proceeded to clean Emma's juices from herself. "And you say quite a few strange things."

"That's because I'm _weird_." The blonde shrugged, opening her eyes to meet with Regina's. "I love you, Gina."

Regina paused, dropping her arms to her sides. For some reason, the statement had caught her off guard, but the blonde only smiled. Why it had, she didn't know, since they always seemed to say those words at random times, but the soft smile that had melted the entire woman's visage had sent her heart soaring.

"I love you, too, sweetheart," she replied, her tone dripping with honey as a hand found its way to one of the blonde's flushed cheeks.

"I love it when you smile like that." Emma muttered, nuzzling the hand on her cheek. One of her own rested on the back of Regina's and gave it a squeeze. "You look really happy, and when you're happy, you're beautiful. Not saying that you're ugly when-"

"Shh…" Regina smiled, silencing the babbling blonde with a kiss. "I understand what you mean, and thank you."

"Yeah. Of course," Emma whispered, pushing a strand of hair away from Regina's face.

The brunette's cheeks flared a spectacular red that had Emma giggling, a sweet and lighthearted tune that had Regina wearing a grin.

"And now, it's my turn to show you how fondly I think of you, since we're on the subject." The smile on her face remained, but the one on Regina's slightly faltered. It raised to alarm to the blonde, for the older woman's eyes grew darker, her breath suddenly short.

"It only makes sense for what you did-"

"Oh, shut the hell up and kiss me." Regina hissed, diving forward to claim those lips that she had silenced. Emma had no problem kissing her back with great vigor, her fingers tangling in the raven locks that tickled her breasts.

Their kiss deepened to a war of tongues, nails digging painfully into Emma's hips as the brunette's own ground against hers.

The blonde grunted, bucking her pelvis up to meet the English teacher's whose thighs soon separated, straddling the young woman's hips.

"Underwear," Emma gasped, her mouth forming an O as the lace fabric of Regina's panties rubbed against her already aching womanhood.

"Mustn't forget." Regina shot her a seductive smirk. "Take them off."

"Make me do it all, why don't you?" Emma joked, reaching to the older woman's hips in front of her to hook fingers under the scrap of material.

She tugged them down as far as they could go in the brunette's position and waited, her eyes never leaving her delicious prize peeking from under black lace. Regina made haste of moving to slip the panties off, quickly returning to her position, this time laying herself on the blonde. Her breath was hot against Emma's face, but her eyes were absolutely seething as they bore into the blonde's own.

 _Oh, she was_ totally _horny._

Emma smirked and ran her hands down the older woman's back, teasing the flesh with the pads of her fingers. Regina's breath hitched as she awaited those digits' next move. With each breath, the blonde's hands moved lower until they gripped the brunette's hips, her own slowly grinding against Regina's center.

"Emma!" Her gasp was so enticing; Emma could already feel her own arousal stir to life once again. This time, though, there was immediate attention given as Regina ground her sweet flesh against the blonde, her face filled with pleasure.

That woman was a masterpiece. Emma always lived for these moments. It was the way that Regina bit her lip when it had become so intense, or the way that her eyes wrinkled when shut, to that small smile on her face as it shaped an O, her breath broken into short gasps and delicious moans that she just couldn't hold back always had Emma marveled.

"Touch me, Emma, _please_." Her words were a whisper and that's when Emma knew the extent of her need.

A hand slid between their bodies as she searched for the center of Regina's arousal. Her other arm wrapped around the teacher's back as she gained the momentum to flip over by rocking her body; soon succeeding with a wide-eyed brunette underneath her. But the surprise hadn't lasted long as Emma worked her fingers into Regina to bring her to climax. And so, she had succeeded when the brunette gave a short cry and held onto her teenage lover with a tight grip, body shuddering with pleasure as her inner walls hugged the blonde's thrusting fingers.

As Regina came down from her ecstatic high, Emma pulled out of her to gather the older woman in her arms, cuddling the limp woman close.

"I-I'm sorry," Regina whispered against Emma's chest, her grip on Emma's arms unrelenting.

"For what, babe?" Emma frowned, dropping her emerald gaze to meet with large, brown ones. She tucked the hair dangling in front of those apologetic eyes behind Regina's ears, her heart sinking at the look.

"I… couldn't stop myself. It felt so good."

"What?" Then it clicked, something in the blonde's brain sparked as she gathered what the older woman had meant. "No, no. Don't apologize about that. It's good to feel good and you shouldn't hold back. Besides, there's another round to have, right?"

Regina smiled and nodded slowly, her fingers tracing an invisible line down the blonde's abdomen.

"I'll make sure to hold off longer." Emma smirked at the seductive growl that emanated from her brunette lover's lips. She found herself getting pulled into Regina and those dark eyes staring at her.

* * *

"So, I've been thinking-"

"Since when did you have the time, dear?" Regina smirked up at the blonde who held her, idly drawing circles on her sweat-slick back. They had just finished another round and were relaxing in their post-coital bliss, stealing kisses and sneaking caresses to one another every so often.

"No. Like, before that." Emma stopped her movements to roll her eyes. "I meant that I still owe you a dance, you know?"

"And you want to do that _now_?" The brunette quirked a brow. "Are you sure you'd be able to even walk?" Her eyes floated to a few toys left on the bed beside them.

Emma could already feel the soreness that had settled between her thighs. She was going to have fun tomorrow. "Want to have a little Winter Formal of our own after the finals?"

"I would like that." Regina smiled, pressing a kiss to Emma's cheek before settling back down, her head on the blonde's chest.

"Awesome!" Emma giggled, stroking Regina's hair. "I can't wait. It'll be fun and I could wear my dress for you. You should wear that dress."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Wanna do it on Thursday or Friday?"

"Graham's in touch, is he not? Do you have plans to spend time with him and your other friends?"

"Right. Hadn't thought of that. How about Thursday? I can go home and get ready, then walk to your place? Graham will understand and, if I can convince Mary Margaret, I can even stay the night. She'd think I'd be staying with my friends."

"You really shouldn't lie to your mother, dear." Regina scolded, but there was a smile on her face as bright as the sun. "But that would be nice. There's always a spot for you in my bed and a place at the breakfast table."

"I'll let you know what she says." Emma sighed contently, letting her body sink into the satin sheets. They sat in silence, their breathing the only thing that seemed to matter to one another. The gentle rise and fall of her lover's chest had lulled Emma into relaxation, bringing her to a world where nothing mattered.

"Gina?" Emma whispered, fingers combing through her raven looks. There was no response, or at least not one that she could hear.

"Regina?" The blonde rose her eyebrows, her hand sliding through Regina's hair to gently shake her shoulder. Her only response was a light snore.

She had fallen asleep.

"Sweet dreams, my queen." Emma whispered, bending down to press a kiss to the top of the snoozing Regina's head.

* * *

The bell rang for the end of the period and Emma stood as slowly as she could. She was not at all anxious to head to class. How if they talked about her? How if Mr. Spencer, himself, said something? Would he kick her out? Would he do that? _Could_ he do that?

As she neared that damned room, limping like a monster, her stomach knotted up. She could simply just skip the period. But where would she go? And what about Regina? She'd surely rip her a new asshole.

When she entered the room, no one appeared to notice. Of course, none of the students from yesterday were in here yet. The blonde thanked whatever high deity that was the case and slumped into her desk. Her forest eyes skated across the room, eventually landing on the elderly teacher in his desk.

He seemed to be unbothered by the fact that she was in here, if he even noticed her arrival in the first place. The blonde sighed and averted her gaze from the math teacher to, once again, look around as more students filed in.

Rolling her eyes when she spotted the scowl from one of the girls that sat near her, Emma pulled out her notebook and flipped it open to doodle, idly waiting until the bell had finally rang.

"Get your study guides out from yesterday." Mr. Spencer announced, taking his place before the class. She had completed that thing last week when he first handed it out. It was simple multiple choice and he only gave completion points for it.

"We're going to go through a few problems, then you're on your own. It's due tomorrow, so make sure to have it complete when you return tomorrow-"

Emma blocked him out and continued doodling on her notebook paper. She already knew how to do most, if not all, the stuff left. And since everyone had decided to keep quiet and not make a scene like yesterday, Emma could space off peacefully.

" _Emma_!"

"Yeah?" The blonde looked up at the teacher who was glowering over at her.

"Now is a time for studying. You should put that pencil to good use on your assignment instead of futile drawings." The math teacher gestured to the packet tucked away under her notebooks on the corner of her desk. "Do you even have it completed, or have you been wasting your time in my class with art?"

"Yes, it's done. You can check it, if you want." Emma shrugged, pulling the papers out to hold up.

He didn't bother to look through it, let alone take the few steps near the blonde. "Then come up and do this problem on the board if you're so confident to do other things in my class."

"Fine." Emma sighed, sliding out of the desk to gather the electronic marker that he handed her.

As she did the problem with ease, she heard a few whispers coming from behind her. Normally she would pass it off for senseless chatter that they usually had, but there was a put in her stomach as they continued. She had a feeling that those muttered words were meant for her.

She shook those whispers away and concentrated on the problem, soon finishing it so she could return to her seat. Behind her, she could hear Mr. Spencer mutter, "Very well."

Trying to hide her sly smirk, the blonde shoved her face in the notebook, ignoring the teacher's droning voice as he proceeded to speak. She would have died from boredom if not for Regina. The brunette had lightly knocked on the door before entering, drawing everyone's attention towards her.

"Can I help you, Ms. Mills?" Mr. Spencer stopped his lesson and walked over to the brunette, his eyes nearly popping out of his head at the sight of the woman's cleavage.

 _Go on, old man, stare harder 'cause that's all you'll get to do._

"Yes, you _may_. I am looking for Emma Nolan." Regina responded politely. "I need her to come to my class. She'll be gone for the rest of the period, if that's alright?"

"Yes, of course." He grunted, gesturing for the blonde to stand. She had already packed up, her stomach doing flips.

"Thank you." She dipped her head, in which Mr. Spencer smiled shortly before heading to the front of the class.

"Are you ready, dear?" The English teacher asked a nodding Emma.

But before she could even take two steps toward the woman, one of the girls from yesterday had to open her mouth. "I'd be careful if I were you, Ms. Mills."

"Pardon?" Ms. Mills blinked.

"She'd probably hang all up on you." The girl answered.

"Why on earth would she do that?" Regina furrowed her brows, eyes momentarily moving to the blonde teenager next to her.

"She's a lesbian, you know? It's disgusting. She tried to flirt with me yesterday and I'm sure she puppy-chases every girl in school, especially when they show her attention."

The boy that sat next to Emma nodded, his eyes landing on Regina's cleavage before flicking up to meet brown orbs. "It's true and I bet she likes you, too. You shouldn't wear something like that around someone like _her_."

"I hardly think so." Regina commented, but the girl had interrupted her with the same thing that she had said the day prior about her wanting to do obscene things to her.

"Gina…" Emma whispered, her voice barely audible as she moved to stand slightly behind the brunette who looked positively seething.

She was unable to utter a word in the blonde's defense, for every time that she had, she had been cut off by hurtful insults, many of which stung Emma's heart. She could only imagine what those words were doing to Regina. But there was just one comment that pushed the English teacher's last button.

"Homosexuality is a disease and shouldn't be stopped before it's spread. My mom says it's in the Bible." It was the brunette girl that had demanded to be moved away from Emma yesterday. She still sat in her new seat, a snotty look on her face. Emma guessed this bitch needed to brush up on a few passages because she looked like she sucked a few in her day.

" _Excuse me?"_ Regina snapped, the sudden raise in her voice forcing the girl to shut up and look at her, as well as the rest of the class.

"Don't you agree?" She asked.

"No. I _don't_ agree with your _opinions_." Ms. Mills hissed, her face turning red. Emma swore that woman's head would explode, or at least that vein that scarily popped out of her forehead would burst. "I had known Emma was gay for quite some time now and that does not change what I think of her.

"She is just like each and every one of you. I have not _once_ seen nor heard her act the way that you have described. This young lady is smart and diligent, like many of you. I would certainly think twice before you go making assumptions about people. Let that sink in and think about how much your words affect the ones around you. Not everyone has the same opinion. Emma may not be the only one, and I'm not just speaking of the students in this classroom."

Emma gawked, having the sudden urge to applaud her girlfriend. She was sure that just about every student crapped themselves. She sure did; metaphorically, of course.

"And, Mr. Spencer." Regina turned toward her colleague, brows raised in perfect arches. "I do assume that you will take care of this young lady and her friend for counts of bullying and classroom disturbance? You seem to let them say what they wish without attempting to step in. Really, now, do you wish for me to speak with Mr. Gold about your behavior?"

"No. I'd rather you not. I'll write them up." The math teacher grumbled, making haste toward his desk to gather the office referral slips.

"Right. Come on, Emma. I need to get back to the classroom." The brunette opened the door, Emma jumping from her spot to quickly follow.

As soon as they were out of the classroom, Emma grinned and playfully bumped into the teacher. "That was awesome, what you said. You really put that bitch in her place."

"It's all true." Regina simply shrugged, heels clicking on the floor as they moved swiftly down the hallway, soon turning into the English hallway. "I'm tired of people insulting us, Emma. I wish they could see it as I do. As many people do, gay or not. But, I suppose we cannot change the world in one day. There will always be bigots out there and there's really no way to change their views, so we must let them be."

"I know, Gina. I just wish everyone would see the big picture, but you're right." Emma sighed, stopping just outside her classroom. She looked up at the brunette, a smile on her face. "But I really appreciate what you said, you know, standing up for me and all."

"Of course, dear. Why wouldn't I? Someone has to." The brunette had donned a sweet smile on her face, her hand raising to cup Emma's cheek but had stopped short and dropped to her side.

"Good. Now, let's get into class. I'm sure that the students have lynched my room by now." Regina quickly opened the door, allowing Emma in first as she soon followed. "You may sit in my chair."

"Thanks." Emma blinked at the size of the class. It was larger than she had initially imagined. The blonde meekly made her way to the back of the class and dropped into Ms. Mills' rolling chair. It felt _so_ much more comfortable than those hard desk chairs.

"I do apologize for the interruption." The brunette offered the class, standing in front of her podium. "But it is time to get back on track. Where were we?"

As Regina stood in the front of the room, helping the students study for the final exams, Emma played with several objects on her desk, a smirk on her face each time that the brunette stopped to give her a disapproving stare. The blonde gave her a sly look as she picked up the older woman's paper cup of coffee and sniffed it; cinnamon coffee.

Quickly, as no one was looking, Emma swiveled the chair around and took a swig, letting the warm liquid seep down her throat and tranquilize her. With a happy sigh, she took another drink that Regina would surely catch her ass for later and set the cup back down.

The English teacher was staring at her, eyes narrowed.

 _She knew_.

Emma burst into a fit of giggles, distracting the class to look at her. "Sorry."

"Is something funny, Emma?"

"No." The blonde put on her best poker face and sat back against the chair. "I just thought of something. But, please, continue teaching. Don't let me bother you."

" _Anyways_ , as I was saying," Regina addressed the class, continuing with the review as Emma sat back and played with her phone, waiting for the bell to ring.

* * *

"You drank my coffee, Emma." Regina stated at the end of fourth period as the blonde headed over to her, dragging her chair behind her. "You drank. My. _Coffee_."

"Not all of it." Emma sat down, eyeing the brunette. "Only a few sips."

"Enough sips to drain most of what was left. I _need_ that. It helps keep me awake."

"I'll buy you some later." She shrugged, nibbling on her lower lip.

"It's alright, dear." The brunette chuckled. "I was only joking. It is fine. I can make plenty of coffee at home."

"Sometimes you're a bitch, but I love you regardless." Emma beamed, wrapping her arms tightly around the brunette teacher. This had caught her by surprise, causing her to gasp and jerk, arms trapped under Emma's.

"Well, I am certainly glad to hear that." Regina eventually wiggled out of Emma's grip, a smile on her face as she played with a pen on her desk. She watched the blonde as she had seemed to space out, emerald eyes focused on the pen caught between olive fingers. The brunette stopped, set the item down, and rolled forward. "What's on your mind, dear?"

"I don't have you for class tomorrow." Emma muttered solemnly.

"That's true." Regina sighed, reaching out to take her partner's hand. "But, think of it this way, you get out early. And around lunchtime, when I may or may not be in here."

"You want me to join you for lunch?"

"I wouldn't be opposed. After all, I will be grading the semester exams and that gets rather tedious after a while." Regina gave Emma's hand a squeeze before turning to her desk, staring with disbelieving eyes at the papers strewn across it. "I already have so much to get in before next week. I'm falling behind."

"Why?" The blonde let her eyes fall to the papers as well, eyes widening. She hadn't exactly realized how many papers were there in the first place. Most were in neat stacks, probably sorted by class period and the type of assignment, while others were just placed here and there, making absolutely no sense in organization. Emma didn't envy Regina at all. She had _a lot_ of work to do before the final grades needed to be posted.

"Distraction," she simply replied, grabbing the strewn papers to stack together, making a new pile next to the others. "But if I work without breaking often, I will be able to get them graded and posted."

"I'm the one distracting you, aren't I?" Emma frowned.

"It's not all your fault, dear. Most of the blame lands on me. I'm usually swimming in paperwork around this time. I hand out so many assignments and barely have the time to grade them all when I get them back." Regina plucked her glasses off her face and folded them to set on top of a stack of ungraded writing assignments. "That's why I normally do not have graded study guides at the end of the semester."

"Oh." The blonde nodded, eyes roving once last time over the mountain of papers before landing on the woman in front of her. "I wish I could help you."

"I wish that, too. But it's my responsibility. Don't worry about it. This is what I get paid to do."

"Alright." Emma frowned, plucking at a piece of string on her pants. "Do you want me to just go home tonight, then? If you need to get your work done, I don't want to bother you."

"You don't have to do that, Emma dear. I quite enjoy your company." The brunette sighed. "But I don't want to bore you."

"I can put on a movie again or something." The blonde shrugged.

"If you promise not to distract me with those lips." Regina smiled, leaning forward to give the blonde a quick peck. "As much as I admit to loving it, I cannot afford to get off track. I must get these graded before the end of the week."

"I promise that I won't try anything. I know that it's important."

"Thank you, my love." Regina smiled, wrapping her arms around Emma in a sweet embrace. She held on, her face buried in blonde curls. "I enjoy it when you come over."

"And I do, too." Emma muttered against the brunette's skin. "By the way, you look gorgeous in that shirt."

"Oh, thank you, dear."

"I made a good choice, yeah?"

"Indeed, you have." Regina chuckled softly and pulled away, looking down at the red material. "Everyone else seems to think so, as well."

"Really?" The blonde narrowed her eyes.

"Yes. Everyone that I ran into today had been staring at my cleavage."

"Who are they? I'm gonna kill 'em."

"Don't fret about that, dear. It's alright." The English teacher smiled, tucking a lock of hair behind her lover's ear. "They can look, but they cannot touch. The touching is your part."

"Damn straight! If I wanna grope you, I can!" Emma's hand was on the brunette's breast before either one of them knew it.

And then someone walked through the door.

Regina's breast should have been on fire as fast as Emma had pulled her hand away from it, bringing it to herself as wide, emerald eyes were focused on the intruder. The brunette teacher almost gave herself whiplash as she stared down the new occupant.

"Killian!" Ms. Mills gasped, her lips parted as she stared at the bewildered face in the doorway.

Emma shrunk in her seat, staring at the teenage boy with glaring eyes.

"I-I can come back."

"It's fine, dear. What can I do for you?"

"I had a question on the study guide. But, really, I can come back after school." He shook his head, blue eyes darting between Emma and Regina.

"You're not going anywhere!" Emma stood up and stormed over to him, her face scrunched in rage as she neared the boy.

"I-I won't say anything!" Killian rose his arms in defense, looking over at Regina who had warned Emma not to do anything.

But the blonde didn't seem to care, instead, she grabbed the brunet by the lapels of his jacket and hissed. "Who did you tell? Why did you tell them?"

"Tell who what?!" He tried to step back, but Emma jerked him forward.

"That I was gay! I _told_ you not to tell _anyone!_ " She wanted so badly to punch him right there and then, but Regina was now standing behind her, muttering in her ear about how it was a bad idea. Emma wouldn't have done it, anyways. She knew that she would get into trouble. Besides, she didn't want to look bad in front of the brunette.

"I _fucking_ sat there and got bullied yesterday! All thanks to you!"

"I didn't tell _anyone!_ " He pleaded, his voice raised a couple octaves.

"And why the fuck should I believe _you?_ "

"I don't break my promises." Killian stared at her, gazing into her eyes. "Didn't you say you had a superpower or whatever to tell if someone was lying? Look at me! I'm telling the truth!"

Emma narrowed her eyes, quick to deny what he was saying to her. But when she met his gaze, there was nothing but pure honesty, and a slight hint of fear, in them as he spoke.

"How the hell did _they_ find out?"

"The jackass that sat next to you said he overheard us at the dance. I was going to tell you, but you left." He looked down, Emma's grip loosening on his jacket. "I'm sorry that it got out. I tried to convince him to not say anything, but he wouldn't listen."

"Fucking asshole. I ought to bash his fucking skull in."

" _Emma_ …" Regina's voice spoke from behind the blonde, an olive hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry," The blonde muttered and looked up at Killian. "And I'm sorry for yelling at you and all that jazz. I really thought that you betrayed me."

"I wouldn't. You're a good friend." He offered her a cheesy smile and Emma could feel Regina's grip tighten on her shoulder. "But, uh, can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"What's- What was that that I saw?" Killian's voice was tentative as he spoke, his sapphire eyes looking between the two women in front of him. "I mean, clearly you were fondling our teacher."

"Uh…" Emma looked to the brunette who was now sighed, her eyes closed.

"I'm gay." Regina suddenly said, brown eyes connecting with blue.

" _What the hell_?" Emma gawked at the brunette after those words had left her mouth, but her own brain couldn't process any more thought after that, her eyes merely falling to the shocked boy.

"Uh…" Killian blinked, surprised by the news, but also confused. "…is this a lesbian thing?"

"No, we-"

"That's it." Emma narrowed her eyes on the brunet boy, cutting her girlfriend off from saying anything else. She didn't know where Regina was going with that, but she figured to stop it before it got out of hand.

"Uh _huh_. So... are you two, like...?"

Regina squeezed the blonde's shoulder, her dark eyes widening. Clearly, she hadn't expected the verbal diarrhea that spilt from her mouth prior and looked as if she were deciding against speaking.

"Leave." Emma merely stated, eyes floating to the door. She wasn't answering _anything_.

"It's alright." Regina whispered to Emma, letting go of her blonde lover's shoulder. "You said that you had a question?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to interrupt your lunch."

"No, it's perfectly fine, dear. If that's alright with you, Emma?"

"Yeah. I gotta get our lunch ready, anyways." Emma shrugged, her heart sinking as she moved back to her seat and grabbed her bag off the floor. The other two moved towards the desk as well as Emma watched subtly, digging out the contents of their lunch.

She hated it when there were others around Regina. It was a natural reaction, she assumed, and she wanted the brunette all to herself. She wanted to be as selfish as possible. Regina was hers, _goddammit_.

But she was also her own person and a teacher, who had to give her attention to her students.

Emma huffed and set the sandwiches she made for lunch aside, her eyes never leaving Regina as she helped Killian with the study guide.

 _Holy shit, Emma, since when do you get so jealous over a boy?_

It wasn't too much longer until Regina had finished answering Killian's question and the boy was out of the room, the English teacher locking the door behind him. When she returned to her desk, Emma couldn't help but to stare at the raven-haired woman.

"What the hell was that about?" The blonde queried, regardless of the bite of sandwich that she was currently chewing on.

"I panicked! I didn't know what to say, and for some reason, that was the first thing that came to mind and spilled out of my mouth." Regina shrunk into her chair, looking ashamed as she absently played with the wrapper from Emma's meal.

"We really need to get that fixed." A soft sigh fell from Emma's lips as she took another bite of her sandwich. "He's going to be suspecting something. I wouldn't doubt that he would be pestering me about it later, either."

"We're becoming too reckless." The brunette murmured softly, finally finding the sandwich that Emma had made for her. "We need to be more careful."

"I know." Emma frowned slightly, eyes falling to the brunette's hands as she fumbled with the packaging. "I'm surprised no one else has ever walked in before."

"We've just been lucky." Regina leaned back against the office chair, nibbling on the bread's crust. "And we'll be even luckier if no one else knows by the end of the school year."

Emma nodded in agreement. They needed to tone their affection down when they were in the classroom in case something like that happened again in the future. Next time it might not be a friendly face walking through that door, instead it could be a student that wouldn't be so agreeable of their explanation, or a teacher that would head right to the authorities.

The blonde leaned back against her seat, finishing up her sandwich as she watched her girlfriend do the same. This was the part that she didn't like; having to hide their relationship like they did. But, there were only a few more months until they were free from the binding of the school and could express themselves freely. Until then, they needed to be more careful.

* * *

Thursday seemed to have reared up on Emma quicker than she had anticipated, because here she was sitting in Ms. Mills' classroom, a pencil in hand and a test packet in front of her face. She wasn't at all complaining, though. That meant that she'd have two weeks of no school and plenty of time to spend with Regina, if she wouldn't be too busy with paperwork, and get time as well to spend with her friends before Graham headed back to Boston.

Though, the downside of being in Regina's class right now was that it was the first test of the day, which meant that she still had two more to take (totaling in about three more hours before she could come back). There was also another problem: she had to piss like a goddamn racehorse. And there was still another _hour_ of testing left. Regina wasn't allowed to let anyone leave the class, especially if they weren't done with the test.

This was going to be absolutely _agonizing_.

 _Just take your mind off it, Emma_.

The blonde repeated those words in her head several times, eyes focused on the words in front of her. She still had quite a bit of the test to complete, so that should be able to occupy her mind long enough. After all, it had worked yesterday during her tests. She had been done with all three and in Regina's room for lunch before she knew it.

Speaking of yesterday, Emma had found that Regina's little blow-out had the girl, Anita was her name, at a complete silence during the second period testing. She never once spoke a word about Emma, let alone give her a single glance. It was in that moment did the blonde want the ability to read minds, because it sure as hell would have been amusing to know what she was thinking. Hopefully Regina's words had gotten through to her and the other three bullies.

Emma told Regina about her math class later that day during their lunch. The brunette had not been at all surprised about it, and had laughed even. "That'll show them," she had said, referring to the way that Emma had described the four, their gazes always faltering before they ever reached the blonde, and the way that they had remained quiet the entire period.

Even Mr. Spencer had seemed put off. He was mysteriously quiet, even more so than he originally was, and looked at Emma as if he were seeing her in a new light. It was definitely enough to put the blonde off, herself, but it was worth the laugh later because apparently, he wasn't only acting strange inside the class, but outside as well.

Regina had run into him earlier that day, just outside the school in the faculty parking lot. He had seemed a little kiss-ass to her, or so she had explained, apologizing in an unusual manner as he reached for the door the same time she had, flashing a rare smile.

She shook her head to keep from laughing again at just the thought of Mr. Spencer using those muscles on his face to _smile_. It really wasn't all that funny, but Emma just couldn't help it. It had brought her back to yesterday's lunch with Regina, who had managed to snort after laughing too hard, which had ended in the both doubled over and gasping for air.

Pushing away her urge to burst into laughter, Emma focused her attention on completing the test. It hadn't really taken too much time, for she knew most of the answers from the night prior when Regina had helped her study. So, before she knew it, she was finished with the test, with a half hour to spare.

The blonde leaned over in her seat and attempted to gain her teacher's attention by tapping her with the test. Regina's head snapped up, brows raised as she noticed what Emma had been doing. Emma gave her a cheesy smile and muttered, "done."

Regina only shook her head and took the test, setting it off to the side as she went back to grading the paper in front of her. The blonde sighed softly, changing to the correct position with eyes on the clock. She still had half an hour and nothing to do. Emma had forgotten to bring a new book to pass the time, and had, unfortunately, finished the one that was in her bag.

Her phone suddenly lit up, brought to life by a new message. The device had been sitting on the corner of her desk.

Emma took the opportunity to check the message, wondering who it might be. Ruby and Graham were the only ones she could think of, since neither of them were in school and were probably bored out of their mind. But, then again, they were _them_ , and they _loved_ to sleep in late. It couldn't be Belle, either, since she was probably taking a test in whatever class she had. Her parents wouldn't message her during a school day. So, that left…

A line of smiley faces as the sender.

 _Regina_.

What the hell did she want? She was less than ten feet away from her. Emma opened the message.

 _ **Hi.**_

Emma furrowed her brows and lifted her gaze to the brunette who was now smiling at her, her own cellular device in hand. _That woman_.

 _I have to pee_.

The blonde sent back, a smirk on her face.

 _ **I am terribly sorry for your loss, dear. But I cannot allow you to use the restroom.**_

 _I know. But I have to piss so bad I can fucking taste it. So, I'm going to complain to you about it to distract myself._

 _ **But wouldn't that make you have to urinate even more?**_

 _Let's talk about something else, then. Get my mind off it._

 _ **You look lovely today, Emma.**_

 _Lovely?_

 _ **Yes. Whatever is that on your lips?**_

 _It's called lip gloss. My lips were a bit chapped this morning._

 _ **Oh… Well, it certainly makes me want to kiss you.**_

 _Does it? How, exactly?_

 _ **Yes. I want to nibble on them… Clean them of that obnoxious color.**_

 _Hey! It's not an obnoxious color!_

 _ **Honey, it looks like you stuck your face in a vat of fruit punch Kool-Aid.**_

 _Rude!_

Emma glared over at Regina who momentarily looked up with a devious smirk.

 _ **Let me lick it off.**_

 _You can't… At least not right now._

 _ **I want to lick you.**_

 _Then go ahead, babe. Do it._

 _ **I can imagine you right now. On my desk, sitting in front of me.**_

 _Oh… Gods._

 _ **And I will be kneeling in front of you.**_

 _My pants are gone._

 _ **Yes…**_

 _And so are my panties._

Her reply was delayed this time. It had only been taking them mere seconds to reply, and just that amount of time for Emma to get hot and bothered by what was happening.

Emma looked up to see a small group of students by the teacher's desk, handing their tests to the brunette who ended up stacking them on top of Emma's.

After they had cleared out, did Regina pick her phone back up, which had Emma expectantly gazing at her own.

 _ **Yes… And what else?**_

 _I peeled your jacket off and tossed it onto the floor._

 _ **What are you doing?**_

 _My legs are open. Waiting for you. (You know I'm not good at this. I ain't eloguent with sexting)_

 _ **Gods… you are so wet. (Nyeh, you're good enough, love. And there is so much wrong with that sentence)**_

 _Yes. And I need you. Taste me. (Nyeh heh heh! Then correct me like the bad girl that… I… am?)_

 _ **Be patient, my swan. (Shush with your parenthesis, you weirdo)**_

 _I can't wait any longer. What are you doing? (You're doing it, too)_

 _ **I'm slowly moving closer to your center, kissing the inside of your thighs. (Touché)**_

 _Oh… You're almost there… (Ugh, I still have to pee)_

 _ **I pull back and smirk at you. (EMMA)**_

 _Hey! Not fair! (Fine... Let the sexting continue (even though I suck at it))_

 _ **My hands grip your hips and jerk you forward, closer to my awaiting mouth…**_

 _Yes…_

 _ **I open my mouth…**_

 _Yes…_

 _ **My head nears your center…**_

 _Oh, gods…_

 _ **My tongue is now sliding out to taste you…**_

 _Eat me…_

 _ **I dive forward…**_

 _Yes…_

 _ **And lick your slick pussy.**_

 _Oh, gods! Yes!_

Emma suppressed a moan, her thighs pressing together. Regina was a dirty, dirty woman, especially when it came to naughty messages. And the excitement building in Emma wasn't sated by the fact they were in class. Everyone remained oblivious to what they were doing and it had made it even more thrilling.

She looked up, smiling when she saw the brunette's flustered face. Her cheeks were heated pink and the blonde could see her shifting in her spot.

 _ **Gods, I can just imagine your flavor on my tongue…**_

The message was sudden after another long pause, but Emma didn't mind as she got to typing quickly. They didn't have much time left, since class would be getting out rather shortly.

 _Fuck me, my queen._

 _ **I smirk against you, my tongue exploring south.**_

 _Oh, please! Gina!_

 _ **I reverse my movements, gazing into your brilliant green eyes.**_

 _You're going to kill me!_

 _ **I smirk again and wiggle my tongue between your folds, finding your sensitive bud.**_

 _Shit! More! Do it again!_

 _ **I abide to your request and run my tongue over your clitoris again.**_

 _Gods, Gina, you tease!_

 _ **Oh, you love it, dear.**_

 _But we don't have enough time._

 _ **If you know me, we do…**_

 _Do it, Gina! Make me come._

 _ **I will make you come in seven different languages, my love.**_

 _Your voice alone could make me in ten._

 _ **I chuckle and aim for my goal, thrumming my tongue against that swollen bud.**_

 _Oh, gods… I can already feel it…_

 _ **Oh, /can/ you?**_

 _These jeans are good, baby. (And so is your tongue)_

Emma chewed on her lower lip. Her palms were sweaty, her heart thumping rapidly in her chest. Why did Regina have to _tease_ her like this? She could take that damn woman right here and right now if it were legal because there was _no way_ that she would be able to survive the next period with the newly formed pulse between her thighs.

Especially now, since that damned bell had rung, leaving Emma hanging without the next reply since Regina had been busied with a few more students and their tests. Damn slow test-takers, taking up all the brunette's time. She should have told everyone to put their tests in a pile on her desk or something, because they only prolonged her replies.

Now Emma was left hot, bothered, and without a conclusion to their sexy messages. The blonde pouted and stood from her spot as everyone filed out of the room. She stayed behind and looked down at the brunette who had been neatly shuffling the tests in a pile to set off to the side.

"Yes, dear?" Regina's husky voice inquired, whisky eyes lifting to meet with emerald. They were dark. She was _horny_. That made it all the better.

"Thank you for making me _aroused_." Emma clucked, crossing her arms.

"You're welcome." The brunette smirked deliciously. "But, lest to say, that leaves two of us sexually frustrated. Perhaps, during lunch, we can take care of that?"

"You owe me big time, babe." The blonde glared at her brunette lover, then at the older woman's desk, landing on the paper cup of coffee that she had with her every morning.

"Don't you dare..." Regina followed her gaze.

"Mine!" Emma quickly snatched the coffee up and took off out of the room, cackling like a maniac as she made her way down the hall. It was about half full, but she didn't care. She wouldn't even have cared if it were empty so long as she could make an exit like that.

Besides, Regina had left her hanging and didn't deserve that coffee.

Or Emma just wanted to act childish.

Either way, she left her statement on the bewildered English teacher. She was good and satisfied, _and_ she had a half cup of coffee to enjoy during her Government test.


	19. Now Make Your Booty Bounce

"Since when do you bring to-go cups to school?" Belle asked as Emma spotted the chair next to her, dropping her bag on the floor and the stolen cup of Regina Mills' coffee on the corner of her desk.

She plopped down into the desk seat and gave her brunette friend a wry look, one brow quirked as emerald eyes stared down sky blue. "Since I felt like it."

"Whatever you say." The brunette rolled her eyes, returning the look before setting a reading book on the corner of her desk. There were still a few minutes before the bell rang, since they gave extra time in the passing period for restroom breaks and the like.

Emma sighed softly and grabbed the paper cup to take a sip, her eyes fluttering as the lukewarm liquid slid down her throat – sweet and spiced with cinnamon.

When the blonde looked up after setting the cup down, she noticed Belle watching her. "Did you get your cinnamon cocoa to go?"

"Why are you so obsessed with what I have in my cup?"

"I'm not obsessed. Just curious." The brunette shrugged. "You don't have to tell me, I guess."

"I won't." Emma smirked. She knew how curious the bookworm got when she was not told what she wanted to know. It would bug Belle probably to the point of taking drastic measures. Or by taking the blonde's paper cup to give it a whiff before setting it back down.

"Cinnamon." She nodded. "Go figure, Miss Cinnamon Freak."

"Excuse me if I like cinnamon in my coffee and cocoa." Emma defended, the bell ringing as she took the cup to hold close with a scowl on her face.

Belle was the first to be done with the test, and Emma was the first to notice as the brunette slid out of her seat with a proud smirk. How she could finish with that damned thing so quickly, the blonde didn't know. She, herself, often finished tests before others, but government was just her weak point.

So, she was wary as she got up herself several minutes later with that test packet, insecure about the answers that she put. Whatever studying that she had tried yesterday with Regina didn't help all too much. She just _blanked_ upon looking at the questions.

"How do you think you did?" Belle asked as the blonde made her way back to her desk, sitting next to the brunette.

"Horribly," the blonde muttered. "I bet I didn't pass."

"Oh, ever the optimist, Emma." Belle grinned.

To which Emma responded dryly, "We all can't be smart like you, Belle."

"I struggled with it."

"With, what, one question?" The blonde grabbed the forgotten cup of coffee and took a swig, the contents now lukewarm.

"With most of it. I studied, but that didn't seem to help. He didn't really teach us all that well, so none of it stuck." Belle whispered, chancing a few glances at their teacher who sat in front of his computer, blatantly ignoring the students as they turned their tests in.

"I know." Emma sighed. "I'm just glad that we're done with this class. It was nice to have the free time, but hell when we had tests over shit we don't know."

"I must admit that it's not my favorite class."

"Right there with you." The blonde agreed, finishing off the rest of the coffee. "Hey, Belle?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know when we get out of here?"

"In about twenty minutes."

"Oh, gods." Emma leaned back against her chair and glanced toward the clock on the far side of the room. "I'm getting a migraine. I want this day to be over with."

"Just one more class. Another hour and a half."

" _Ugh_ …"

"Think of it this way, Em, it's art. All we're doing is working on our final project, and you're pretty much done, aren't you?" Belle cocked her head to the side.

"Yeah." Emma nodded. "But I'll be bored as hell for the entire thing, then, because I finished my book."

The blonde scowled at herself for that. She hadn't thought to replace it this morning. For some reason, she had completely forgotten about her art class and the time she'd spend doing nothing in there, since all she had left was a few details on the final project of a lone wolf. She had made it for Graham, promising that she would make something in art for him upon taking the class and as a thank-you for Boston.

Graham loved wolves as Emma loved swans. It was their symbols, or so he liked to say. It was something that represented each of them in their own ways.

He admired the wolves' packs and their loyalty to one another, which equally represented his own loyalty to his friends. And he had also said that they were magnificent creatures and looked badass, especially when they bared their teeth.

Emma had told him her reason for liking swans. Her last name contributed little to her admiration for the bird. The reason that she liked them was for their grace and beauty, much as he liked wolves for their appearance as well. She felt that she could relate to the aggressive swans, ones that looked pretty on the outside but, if given a wrong look, would charge after the challenger with great ferocity. Graham, of course, had laughed at her statement because it was painfully true.

Regina, when Emma had the same discussion with the older woman and told her that, had also laughed. She said, "I could definitely see you chasing after someone for giving you the hairy eyeball, dear. You were nearly swan-ing after that couple in the restaurant in Boston."

When the blonde had asked the brunette about what her favorite animal was, she answered with a panda. Emma curiously asked why, and if it were to be a symbol that represented her, Regina grinned and answered with, "Because they are adorable. I suppose they can represent me in a similar way since you often tend to call me adorable."

And Emma had called her adorable again, just for the cute little smile on her lips after explaining. They laughed over that, Regina just shaking her head like she always did when Emma made that comment. Then they laughed over the pairing of a swan and a panda together and how absurd it would be if they were to be together in the wild.

"They'd have some pretty fucked up looking offspring," Emma had commented, snorting with giggles as an image of a panda with white feathers, wings, and a beak came into mind.

Emma had admitted to Regina, after they had finally calmed down after the blonde shared her input on the offspring of a panda and a swan, that she had a guilty pleasure in liking turtles. "They're adorable," she admitted. They also, in a way, reflected how she acted with outside forces, wanting to hide in her shell and only come out when coaxed into safety.

"Emma, are you coming?" Belle was standing beside the blonde as she remained in her seat. Taking a glance around, she noticed that the students were now filing out of the room. The bell had rung and she had apparently been too caught up in thought to have heard it.

"Yeah."

"Alright. Come on, then." The brunette urged, walking towards the door.

Emma quickly followed, empty paper cup in hand. "Hey, I'm gonna go bribe Ms. Mills for some drugs before my head gets worse."

"Well, hurry." Belle smiled. "I'll be waiting for you in the class."

"I know." The blonde chuckled and parted ways with her friend, heading down the opposite hallway as they hit the bottom of the stairs. She made haste to get to Ms. Mills' room, cursing silently at the people blocking her way.

Eventually she had found herself turning into the English hallway and quickly made her way to her destination. There were a few students already inside, she had spotted when she entered the room, and made her way to the brunette sitting in the teacher's desk. The blonde stopped beside her, a smile on her face as surprise chestnut orbs gazed up.

"Emma?"

"Give me drugs." Emma whispered, laying the palm of her hand on the surface of the desk as she put her weight on it. "I have a migraine and I know you have pills for it."

"Can it not wait?" The brunette muttered, trying to keep her voice unheard.

"No. It'll only get worse and I have to do art for an hour and a half. Besides, I'm already down here and I still have to get back."

"Emma, what will I do with you?" Regina shook her head upon a sigh and pushed her chair back to grab the purse that was tucked under her desk. Quickly, she rummaged through the bag and pulled out a small bottle.

Emma watched as she dug out two pills and handed them over. The blonde took them immediately with a grateful smile. "Thanks. Here's a gift of gratitude." She sat the empty paper cup on the brunette's desk. "I have to go."

"Yes. Do you need a pass?" Regina eyed the cup before lifting her gaze to meet with Emma's, her head tilting slightly to the side.

"That would be much appreciated." Emma nodded and the brunette got to it, digging out a small pad of papers to write up a pass for the blonde.

After she had finished, she poked the cup with her pen and shook her head. "I thought so."

"What? You expected me to _not_ drink it?"

"Just go to class, you coffee thief." Regina's words were so quiet, Emma herself could barely hear them.

"Yeah. Have a good day, _Ms. Mills._ " Emma smiled softly when she met brown eyes. She had the sudden urge to just bend down and give those curved lips a quick peck, but she had to resist and quickly backed away to make sure she didn't do just that.

"Thank you. You have a good day, as well, Emma." Regina called out to the blonde as she started to head towards the exit.

Emma smiled and nodded, pushing the door open. "Thank you."

After Emma had managed to make it to her art class, she had obtained her painting and what was required to complete her touch-ups to it, and took her spot next to Belle. The brunette looked up from her own work with a large smile.

"Did you get your drugs?"

"Yup." The blonde nodded and began to work on the project.

On her way to the class, she had time to think about what she was going to do after finishing up with the painting. She figured that, since she had been thinking about animals and such earlier, that she would paint a picture of a panda for Regina. It would sate any boredom that she might have and would make for any excellent gift. The problem, though, was that she wasn't sure if it would be dry by the end of the day.

She'd figure something out, she was sure, by the end of the day. Right now, she wanted to concentrate on finishing her final project so Ms. Boyd could grade it before she left.

It wasn't long before she had finished with her main project before moving onto the panda that she had planned to paint on a smaller piece of paper. Though, she had somehow managed to convince herself enough to start this new project out like her old one, and make it on a new, larger paper that would no doubt have to be finished at home. Belle hadn't asked what she was doing, but had given her a few curious glances. It was a good thing, since Emma didn't really know how to explain what the hell she was doing or why she was drawing a panda on a paper.

She was halfway through drawing out her plans before the bell had rang, indicating that class was over. Sadly, she was unable to get a good start on the project as she had planned, but she wanted it to be _perfect_ , especially since she was planning on giving it to Regina.

Emma grabbed both projects and headed for the door, Belle following behind her.

"So, what are your plans for tonight? Ruby, Graham, and I are going to the movies." The brunette spoke, carrying her large painting in one hand and a book in the other.

"I was planning on staying home and working on this." Emma showed her friend the panda drawing and smiled. "But tomorrow I plan on hanging out with you guys and staying over for a few nights."

"You better. We've missed you." Belle frowned.

"Sorry, I just haven't really been feeling like going out lately. But, hey, I'll be making up for it this break." Emma smiled and playfully bumped into her friend. "I thought you'd like the alone time with Ruby, though."

"Shut up." She was quick to blush, her entire face turning red.

"Is there something going on between you two? And, don't worry, I'm not going to judge. It's cool if there is." It was silent for a few moments as the two of them headed outside, Belle stopped, though, before they could get to the sidewalk. Emma quirked a brow and turned around to face the petite brunette. "Belle?"

"If I say yes will you shut up?"

"I knew it!" Emma pumped a fist in the air and giggled.

"Don't say anything about it. Ruby doesn't want anyone to know." Belle continued to walk and Emma followed beside her.

"I won't. I'm glad that you guys have each other. She seems to make you happy." Emma commented, her head turned to look at the rosy-cheeked teenager.

"She does."

"Why didn't you guys tell me?" She asked. It was quiet as they headed down the sidewalk, all too soon arriving at Granny's where Belle would depart. The two of them stopped in front of the diner, Emma staring at the brunette with raised brows.

"I don't know. I guess we just… We don't really want it out there. And we weren't really certain of things."

"I understand." Emma smiled. "Well, I'm happy for you two and you have my full support."

"Thanks…" Belle fidgeted in her spot, shifting from foot to foot as she shot several glances at the diner. Emma looked up and spotted Ruby through the window, though she was waiting a table.

"I guess I should let you go and see you tomorrow?"

Belle nodded and gave the blonde a relieved smile. "Yeah. See you tomorrow, Em." She quickly turned and sauntered down the path to the door of Granny's and entered, leaving Emma to make her way home.

Once the blonde had arrived to the apartment, she quickly dropped everything on her bed and began to rummage through her dresser for clothes to take with her for the weekend. Mary Margaret had agreed to let Emma stay the night with her friends over the weekend, and then some if she had felt like it since Graham would be in town for a while longer and school was on its winter break.

"Are you leaving so soon?" Mary Margaret's voice sounded, startling the blonde from her work of stuffing her backpack with clothes.

"Uh… Yeah. I was planning on eating lunch there." She looked over to her mother, a half-smile on her face. "I'm sorry. I must have forgot to tell you."

"It's fine, honey." The pixie-haired brunette made her way into the room, crossing over to the blonde's bed. Her eyes moved over the collection of items on Emma's bed, landing on the painting that she had complete earlier that day. "What's this?"

"Oh. That's for Graham." Emma smiled, stuffing the rest of her clothes into her backpack before zipping it up. "He likes wolves and I needed something to paint for a final project in my art class. I figured I'd give it to him before he leaves."

"That's nice of you, Emma." Mary Margaret smiled, giving the painting one last glance. "It's really good."

"Thank you." The blonde flushed and marched over to her closet to dig out the dress that Ruby had given her. She had planned on wearing it to Regina's house for their dance, as she had asked the brunette if she would change into her dress as well to make it feel more dance-like.

Though, the problem now was Mary Margaret. How would she get out of the house without her mother questioning her about the dress? And what excuse could she come up with?

"Do you know when you plan on coming home?"

"No. But I'll let you know." The blonde replied, pulling the thin black fabric off its hanger. "It'll be before Christmas, don't worry."

"Alright…" The brunette gave her a sad smile. "Be safe, okay? And have fun. I love you."

Emma nodded and returned the smile. "I will. I, uh, I love you, too."

"I'll leave you to it, then." She nodded toward Emma's backpack which lay on the bed, a few items that the blonde had planned on sticking inside were strewn about on her bed.

Emma nodded as the older woman turned to leave the room, leaving the blonde to finish up her packing and quickly change clothes. As soon as she slipped on her boots and donned her red leather jacket, she was out of the loft and on the street.

Off to Regina's house she went, ear buds in as she listened to the song on repeat that she planned on singing to the brunette. She knew the lyrics for the most part, but it was never safe enough to refresh herself. Besides, it beat the sound of cars sputtering by and the voices of people around her.

Though, she couldn't drown out the buzzing in her bra. Blinking, she quickly snatched her phone out of its little hiding place and woke it up to find that she had a new message from Regina: _**Can you pick up a chocolate bar, please? I'd be happy to reimburse you.**_

Chocolate? Why the hell did she want Emma to get chocolate? Whatever her reasoning, Emma didn't care and typed back " _Okay"_ before changing her direction toward the small grocery store. It wasn't necessarily out of her way, anyways, and a hell of a lot closer than the candy shop somewhere behind her.

Crossing the street, she made haste to get into the store and purchase the item that Regina wanted. Shifting her messenger bag on her shoulder as she walked in, the store clerk, Clark, gave her the hairy eyeball as if she were in there to take something.

With a subtle scowl, she made her way to the back of the store where the candy aisle was located and searched through the brands of chocolate. Then her eyes landed on it; a large bar of chocolate with large print letters.

Regina didn't exactly specify what size of bar she wanted, and maybe if Emma got the big one, she would be willing to share? Yes, because chocolate suddenly sounded yummy and her complaining stomach agreed with a low rumble. The blonde snatched up the giant bar of chocolate and headed to the checkout, slapping it on the counter as she dug around in her pockets for the two dollars that it cost.

"Thank you. Have a nice day." The clerk said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

The blonde returned it, muttering, "you too," before she walked out the door to head towards Regina's house once again.

It was freezing as hell out today; the wind was cold and bitter and whipped against Emma's face with an icy vengeance. She absolutely hated winter and she knew that she could continue repeating that over and over and never change her opinion.

Thankfully, Regina's house wasn't far, only a block more away. She could see the large structure and all its warm, warm glory that she would soon be basking in. And, before she knew it, Emma was pushing the gate open and walking up to the teacher's front door, her arm already extended to knock on it.

"It's freezing out here!" she shouted at the door, bouncing from one foot to the other to keep herself somewhat warm.

The door soon opened, Regina's face appearing on the other side of the threshold. "Hello, dear."

"Oh, gods…" Emma blinked, instantaneously forgetting about the nipping air.

Regina looked _stunning_ in her dress. It wasn't the same one from the night of the dance, but that didn't matter much because, _wow._ The damned thing that she wore was skin-tight and clung to her every curve. The fabric was colored a deep blood red and generous enough to expose a large amount of Regina's cleavage and her long, tanned legs. It was crazy the types of garments this woman had. It made Emma envious to think about who had seen her in these spicy dresses.

"See something that you like?" Regina smirked, her crimson lips curving into something salacious. "Why don't you come in? You must be _freezing_."

"Oh, I don't know if I am, now," the blonde muttered, following her brunette lover inside. She kept her eyes on Regina, enjoying each step that she took with a sway of her hips.

"Why don't you settle your things in the room?" Regina asked, smiling softly at the blonde when she turned around at the bottom of the stairs. "I will get lunch ready."

"Sounds good. I'm starving." Emma smiled. She then remembered the candy bar that she held in her hand, no doubt frozen from the ice box she called outdoors. "Here's your chocolate."

Regina's eyes widened at the sight of the large chocolate bar, but she shot Emma an appreciative grin and plucked it from the teenager's fingers. "I very much appreciate this, Emma. How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing. It's on me." Emma shrugged, her eyes on the candy bar in her lover's hand. She absently licked her lips at the thought of melting chocolate in her mouth and how sweet it would be.

"You're not getting my chocolate." Whisky eyes were narrowed as they stared into forest ones, a warning look flittering through them. "I will rip your arm off if you dare touch it."

"Make sure it's not the one that you like." Emma muttered, wiggling the fingers on her right hand. "Or you'd be one sad panda."

"Oh, indeed I would be. But I would be even more so if you were to take my chocolate."

"I won't steal it, Gina, don't worry." Emma chuckled and gave her cheek a quick kiss before hopping up the stairs.

She could hear the older woman laugh before she moved toward the kitchen, her voice trailing behind her, "Maybe if you're good, I'll share."

* * *

Emma played with her phone, tossing it from hand to hand as she found herself on Regina's couch. They had finished lunch just moments earlier and now she was resting on the couch after the light meal of a Greek salad that Regina had whipped together.

Regina walked into the room now, wearing a smile on her face as she gazed down at the blonde with sparkling coffee eyes. "Are you ready for our dance, darling?"

" _Now_?" Emma quirked a brow, looking up at the brunette. She quickly stood up, though, her stomach doing flips. The blonde had been looking forward to dancing with her girlfriend and now that it was happening, she was positively _trembling_ with excitement.

"Yes, of course."

"I figured you'd want to do it after dinner."

"Why wait?" Regina smiled. "I would like to relax for the rest of the day."

Emma shrugged. There really was no argument with that.

"Can I do something before we dance?" The blonde reached up to play with a lock of the older woman's dark hair.

"Of course, my love." Regina purred absently, blinking when the blonde pulled her hand away.

"I want to serenade you." Emma bluntly stated. She shot Regina a smile after the woman quirked a brow.

"Serenade me?"

"Yes." The blonde pulled the top of her dress up before sniffing and searching for the song that she had in mind. "This goes out to my girlfriend."

Regina's eyes narrowed, her lips pursing as her face scrunched up in confusion.

Soft music started to flitter from Emma's phone, which had the blonde swaying slowly to get into the mood of the song. A wide smile was on her face and a twinkle in her eyes.

It was sure a scene to laugh at and hopefully that would be just what Regina would do.

" _Emma_ …" Regina whispered as soon as she had figured out what the soft melody went to, but was not quick to stop as Emma's voice sang off-key to the lyrics.

" _Thanks for the times that you've given me._

 _The memories are all in my mind._

 _And now that we've come to the end of our rainbow_ \- though not really-

 _There is something I must say out loud…"_

Her quick add-in had a stunned, slack-jawed Regina make a noise that sounded like a garbled giggle. Emma smiled, gracing her fingers along the older woman's jaw.

" _You're once… twice… three times a lady, and I love you."_

The brunette softly giggled again, her cheeks flushed as the blonde hummed with the music. She knew that Regina had probably been rolling her eyes internally after realizing what the song was. _Cheesy_.

" _When we are together,_

 _The moments I cherish,_

 _With every beat of my heart._

 _To touch you… to hold you…_

 _To feel you, to need you._

 _There's nothing to keep us apart."_

Emma blushed because she had just realized exactly why she had chosen this song to sing to her brunette lover. It reminded her of her feelings for the brunette, reflecting her emotions into the lyrics of the song. Though she had intended this song to be a gag because, honestly, it was almost cliché to sing to a woman. But Regina was standing there in front of her, eyes shimmering with unshed tears at that last verse and had a smile on her face that could just melt Emma's heart.

The blonde let her green eyes fall from chocolate as pale hands gathered olive, squeezing them tenderly as she continued.

" _You're once… twice… three times a lady and I love you."_

" _I love you…"_ Regina finished the last line, her voice fluid and heavenly, like a choir of angels. Who the hell knew she could sing like _that?_ Emma certainly didn't and she instantly yearned for it like air.

"Whoa…" Emma muttered, eyes wide as saucers. "You can sing."

"And you can't." Regina gave a cat-like grin. "But I did quite enjoy your serenade, regardless. Lionel Richie. _Classic_." She snorted, but quickly recovered.

"I know that it's, like, cliché, but it was meant to be a joke." Emma nibbled on her lower lip. "I sing so horribly, I know. And this song is pretty overused for romantic thingies, I'm sure."

"I do not care, my dear. It was still… heartwarming in a way. And…" Her brown orbs misted as she spoke her last words on a tremble. "No one has ever sung to me before. It really is something sweet that you would do that for me, Emma."

Regina shook a hand from the blonde's grasp and cupped her cheek, the brightest of smiles on her face.

"I just hope that it wasn't weird. It kinda got serious when it wasn't supposed to."

The older woman chuckled softly and shook her head. "Don't worry about that. Let us dance!"

Emma quickly snatched up her cellphone that had found its way back into her brassiere. She shuffled through the music and smirked, finding the perfect song.

"What is on the playlist, dear?"

"You shall see. Let the music play!" Emma giggled just as a fast-paced song started to play, its pumped beats harmonized with each heartbeat.

This had taken Regina aback, but her surprise was soon gone and replaced with a delicious upturn of the lips as she started to bounce with the beat. The blonde stood frozen to see what the hell this woman had planned and out of all the scenarios in her head, she never imagined what she was witnessing right now.

Emma's mouth went dry from the sight. Each move that the brunette made was intoxicating, making the blonde sway in a drunken dance with Regina, every cell of her body buzzing.

"I didn't know you could dance like that." Emma commented over the music, catching whisky in her gaze.

She, too, moved to the beat, though the way that Regina pursued her hips had Emma flustered. She was absolutely amazed that the older woman could move like that, though, she hadn't any doubt before that she couldn't. Regina could wiggle and bend in many compromising positions, so why couldn't she dance?

But, still, that woman was _marvelous_. Her delicious curves were enunciated by the dress that clung to her as if it were a second skin, and that had done wonders with her round rump – which was currently being shaken in Emma's face, or at least, close enough. The blonde licked her lips, resisting the temptation to give that damned thing a slap.

Unfortunately, the beat to the song faded out, which had the brunette cease her dancing and turn around to face her blonde lover, an immediate smile spread across those full crimson lips.

"That was so fucking hot." Emma muttered, staring into amused chestnut eyes.

"I used to go to clubs when I was younger. It was a thing after I started to date this one girl that absolutely loved the party scene." The brunette elaborated, her chest expanded as she inhaled, a smile on her face.

"Really?"

Then Regina started to burst into laughter, and for the love of her, Emma could not figure out why. Was it really that amusing? She wouldn't be exactly surprised if Regina got a lot of action.

"No. I haven't been known to date the popular girls. Like I had said, I mostly kept to myself and avoided friends. And by friends, that also meant girlfriends. People in general, really." Regina smiled at the next song that played, a slow, sweet tune that was perfect for an intimate dance. The brunette closed the space between them and wrapped her arms around Emma's waist as the blonde did the same with her lover's neck.

It was strange that no communication was needed when doing things, at times. Emma knew exactly what the brunette was intending and she would just go with the flow. She had always been inept to reading people, but now that she was with Regina, it was like a different life that she was living. She did things that she had never been able to do before, and say things that she never had the need to say.

"What does that have to do with your dancing skills?" Emma mumbled against Regina's cheek before placing a kiss there. "Though it's not to say that I don't like your stories."

"Oh, well, it _does_ have to deal with my dancing skills in a way. Boredom. I dance out of boredom sometimes and catch up with the latest dancing fads. Though, I must admit, quite a few of them are strange." The brunette slid one hand down to rest on Emma' rump as the two of them swayed together to the slow music. "Like, what on earth is _twerking?"_

Emma stopped, suddenly bursting into laughter, which had Regina at a shock with the blonde's bellowing giggles in her ear.

" _What_?"

"Have you tried it?" Emma asked, still giggling.

"No," the brunette was quick to answer. "It looked so… No. I have not. It is not something that I would feel comfortable with doing. Not even alone."

"I bet that it would be hot as fuck if you do it. I would pay good money. Or at least have wild, hot monkey sex with you." Emma dropped her hands, landing them both on Regina's bum to give it a squeeze.

The brunette squeaked softly and pressed herself closer to the blonde. "Don't count on me doing this twerking thing."

"Can we just skip to the hot monkey sex?"

"I am afraid not…" Regina pushed away from Emma, her head downcast. This had Emma concerned, her hands lifting to grab the older woman's face. She brought the brunette's face up to gaze into guilty brown eyes.

"Why not?" The blonde asked softly, the pads of her thumbs gently stroking the smooth, olive flesh. "Is something wrong, Gina?"

"In a manner of speaking." Regina answered, her own hands landing on the back of Emma's. She sighed, eyes flicking down to the teenager's lips before gazing back up into emerald eyes. "I started my monthly today. I found out once I got home."

"Oh… fuck." Emma frowned. "That's why you wanted the chocolate?"

Regina nodded and pulled away from Emma completely. She made her way towards the couch and sat down, the blonde taking the space next to her. "I can always pleasure you, if you wish for me to."

"No, no. It's fine." The blonde shrugged and snuggled up to the older woman's side. "Would you like me to get you anything? A foot rub? A tummy rub? A heating pad for your uterus? Your chocolate? A snuggle?"

"Since when are you so quick to offer things?" Regina chuckled softly, wrapping her arm around the teenager.

"Since I know how it is to be a woman." Emma replied with a cheeky smile, a pale finger poking at the brunette's belly. "Is your uterus giving you troubles?"

"I took medication." The brunette grabbed Emma's hand and played with her finger, a breathy sigh leaving her lips.

"I enjoyed the dance with you." Regina had finally said after a few minutes of silence.

Emma grinned widely. "I liked it, too."

"What are your plans for the holidays, dear?" Regina changed the subject quickly, shifting in her spot into a more comfortable position with her feet tucked under her and her head resting on the blonde's shoulder.

Emma bit her lip and moved as well, her arm finding its way around the brunette's waist to pull her closer. "Tomorrow I'm going to hang out with my friends. I'll probably stay with them until Christmas Eve or the day before. Then I'll be spending Christmas with Mary Margaret and David."

"That's nice," she replied quietly.

"Do you have any plans? I was thinking about coming over later on Christmas. I have something for you."

"My- my mother called the other day." Regina lifted her head, meeting the blonde's curious gaze. "She's coming up."

"When?" Emma asked breathlessly, holding the older woman tighter as she felt her muscles stiffen.

"She wanted to visit on Christmas." The brunette replied, her words were soft, but strained, as if she didn't want to say nor believe those words. "After all these years, she wants to finally see me. She must want something."

"She doesn't know about us, does she?" Emma's eyes turned to saucers.

"No. No… It would be impossible if she were to know about us. And I don't plan on telling her, either." Regina sat up, placing her feet on the floor as she moved out of the blonde's hold. "I don't know why she's coming here. I… I don't know if I'll be able to see her."

"Why not?"

"I will fall under her guise and I am afraid that she will…" The brunette shook her head, the words dying on her tongue before she could say them.

"Hey, don't worry about it… If you need me, you can call me, or text me."

"But what can you do, Emma?" Regina pushed herself from the couch and stood. "She'll manipulate you into leaving me so she can set me back on track again. And… you're too young. She'll ruin my career, she'll ruin my relationship, she'll ruin _everything_ and break me so she can build me back up. She had done it before and I am sure that she is willing to do it again. Something is wrong, and she… wants to… She wants me for something."

Emma opened her mouth to give Regina some type of comfort, but the ringing of the doorbell interrupted her before she could utter a word.

"Expecting someone?" The blonde asked, quirking her brow. But Regina shook her head and a wave of panic shot down Emma's spine. "Should I go upstairs?"

"No…" Regina slowly moved away from the couch, Emma following suit, as they traveled to the foyer where the blonde stopped before the threshold as the brunette continued to answer the door. She cautiously opened it, Emma peering around her to spot a tall, slender woman with pale skin and long, ginger hair.

She spoke with a crisp accent, the simple, "Hello," echoing through the spacious foyer. "I do hope that I am not interrupting you." Pale green eyes slid up and down Regina's attire, a small smile on her face.

Was this one of Regina's old flames?

Emma found herself bristling. She didn't want to think about her girlfriend's past lovers. She burned at the thought of someone else touching Regina as she had. So, she found herself marching into the entryway and taking position next to the older woman, eyes slightly narrowed as she stared down the newcomer with a warning look that should send her away with her tail between her legs.

"No, you aren't." Whisky eyes moved to the blonde now standing next to her and Emma met them, a guilty smile on her face.

Shaking her head, Regina turned her attention back to the mysterious woman as the latter spoke, "are you Regina Mills?"

"Yes." The brunette furrowed her brows, studying the woman. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

"Oh, I apologize! My name is Zelena. Zelena Mills." Zelena extended a hand toward the brunette for a handshake, but Regina left her hanging, her jaw slack.

"Mills?" She asked, eyes sliding down toward the gloved hand before she shook it as to not be rude.

"Indeed I am. May I come in? It _is_ rather cold out here." When Regina nodded silently, Zelena stepped through the threshold and into the foyer, allowing the brunette to close the front door.

"Why are you looking for me?" Regina inquired, her arm dropping to her side as she turned towards her guest. She crossed her arms, frowning slightly. "Or so I assume you are. Who _are_ you, exactly?"

"Pardon me for not elaborating. I must be so rude as to interrupt you and your guest." The ginger haired woman smiled politely to Emma, who caught herself from scowling.

"Care to elaborate?" The brunette pressed.

"Oh, I apologize." Although, she didn't look sorry at all. "I am your half-sister on our mother's side."

"My _what_?" Regina gawked, taking a step back. Her eyes were wide; her brows were almost lost in her hairline as the blonde had to press a hand to her back to keep her steady. "That's… impossible. I don't have a sister. I-I am a lone child."

"I was given up for adoption when I was a baby." The woman who claimed to be Regina's sister smiled tightly. "Dear old mum couldn't afford to keep me. But in recent events, we had been reunited, under certain circumstances."

"How do I know that you are not lying to me?" Regina kept her distance from Zelena, eyes sharp and focused on the woman before her. "And what brings you here to disturb me?"

"Our mother is Cora Mills. She owns a successful lawyering business and she's an absolute bitch that believes _you_ , of all people, should inherit it."

"She never spoke of such a thing to me." Regina stiffened in her spot. "And why would I inherit it when she-"

"She's not going to be around forever. Last I heard, she had something terminal." Zelena interrupted. "And she wants to give the business to _her only daughter_. She had completely disowned me. Forgot about me. She _forgot_ about me when _I_ am the one who is practiced in the law. Not _you_ … All you do is _teach_ , something so insignificant."

"I will not have you come into my house to insult me." Regina hissed, taking a threatening step towards her sister. Emma took a step back. "I want you to leave."

"Or _what_?"

Regina took another step forward, her upper lip curling in a threatening manner. She looked as if she were about ready to grab the woman by the neck and throw her out.

" _Gina_ …" Emma reached out to touch her back, instantly causing her to freeze.

"I need you to leave, Zelena. I am sorry, but I cannot help you. I do not control what Cora does, and she will know when she comes here, that I will _not_ take over her business. She has controlled my life enough and you are _lucky_ that you didn't have to grow up with her."

" _I_ am lucky? I grew up without a mother. And as soon as I had learned about who she was and who _you_ were, I needed answers."

"Well you got them now, didn't you?" Regina narrowed her whisky eyes.

"Not completely, I did not." Zelena answered with a growl. "I could give our mother all that you refuse to, and more, but she said she didn't want anything to do with me. I will convince her otherwise. I _will_ find something to ruin her view of you."

Regina stiffened. She didn't mind losing rights to the family business, but what she did mind was getting exposed all over again.

"You won't find anything that she doesn't already know." Regina's tone was quiet, deadly, and her eyes were on fire as they bore into the ginger woman in front of her.

But now that Regina _did_ have knowledge of Zelena, her newly revealed sister, she wondered why Cora wouldn't want her to take over the family business. Of course, Cora wouldn't know exactly what this woman had in mind, but wasn't she the ideal daughter? Zelena _wanted_ to take over the business. She _wanted_ to follow in her mother's footsteps as far as Regina could tell. This woman was someone that could give Cora everything she wanted in a daughter, and that included grandchildren to pass the business unto. Unless, there was something preventing that; something that Cora had discovered and why she was so quick to reject the perfect daughter.

"Are you gay?" Regina found herself asking, unable to stop the question from slipping out.

"Why on _earth_ would you ask me such an inane question?" Zelena's eyes widened, reflecting Emma's own visage.

"It would explain why mother would be so quick to turn you away."

"Well, I am sorry to tell you, but I am _not_." Regina's sister snarled, her nose wrinkling. "Are _you_? Is that why mother complained about not having grandchildren?"

"No. I'm barren." The brunette found herself saying. She wasn't going to risk telling Zelena the truth, because she was sure that woman was smart and would quickly connect Emma as her lover. It was better to lie about not being able to have children than bear the knowledge.

"Barren? What a shame." Zelena puffed out her lower lip, feigning sympathy as she took a step forward. "Why would mother not want _me?_ I can at least bear her heirs, unlike you."

"I wouldn't even go there." Regina growled, her nails digging painfully into the palms of her hands. She could feel Emma's hand on her arm, urging her to stay calm. Normally that was easy for the brunette, for the scene in the restaurant weeks back had proven it, but when someone pushed her buttons so relentlessly…

"Whatever you want to believe, dear sister." Zelena shrugged nonchalantly and made her way to the door, heels clacking on the ground as she moved. "Mother is better off without you. You're such a waste. I could make something of this house."

The ginger haired woman was out of the door before Regina had gotten the time to reply, though it didn't make her any less angry. She fumed, stomping up the stairs, leaving Emma to chase after her.

"Gina! Wait!" She heard the blonde's voice calling after her, but she didn't dare stop. Regina was too afraid that she would accidentally lash out at her lover. Her body was too small to handle the emotions that suddenly invaded her.

"Regina, please…" Emma stopped in the doorway of the master bedroom where Regina had entered.

The brunette let out a scream as she whipped around to face her girlfriend, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her entire body was trembling, shaking with fury as the image of this half-sister of hers appeared in her mind.

It was Emma's large, terrified eyes that had sated some of her anger, letting Regina's vision to clear of the red that had blinded it before. She sighed and let her eyes squeeze shut, shuddering.

"Who does she think she is, coming into my house like that?" Regina cried, her glistening eyes opening to meet with emerald. "I-I can't let her find out about us. My mother will… she will… take you away from me."

"Regina…" The way her name fell from Emma's lips was soothing and Regina found herself in the blonde's arms, her face buried in golden curls. She inhaled the sweet scent of her young lover, letting the familiarity flow through her body and relax her frazzled nerves as she slowly found herself once again. "We won't let her find out, okay? Your mother can't take me away from you. There is no way in hell I'd ever leave you."

"I hope not…" Regina breathed. "We are _fucked_ if my mother finds out."

"Come on, Gina. Why don't you try to forget about this? Think of something else."

"You're right." The brunette sighed and peeled herself from Emma. "Would you like to relax with me in bed? I can grab my laptop and we can find a movie to watch, if you wish."

"That sounds good. Can I change, first?"

"Yes, dear. I plan on doing the same." Regina sniffled and offered the blonde a watery smile, in which was returned with a sweet smile that squeezed the brunette's heart in her chest.

"There's that smile," Emma whispered, bringing a hand up to wipe the tears from olive cheeks.

"For you." The teacher purred, nuzzling the hand for a hot second before turning away.

She made her way over to her closet, unzipping her dress on the way. She could hear the blonde struggle to get out of her own dress as well and smiled, unable to help it when she turned around to watch Emma, who was hopping around with one leg in her pajama pants.

Then she fell over and Regina bubbled with laughter.

"Shut up!" Emma whined, glaring at the brunette as she stood. "Or I will make _you_ fall down."

"I would like to see you try, _dear_." Regina smiled, her dress pooling around her ankles when Emma had started to make her way over to the closet. She had stopped, though, halfway across the room with her eyes on the brunette; dark and hungry.

"Gods, you're hot." Emma smirked, bouncing the rest of the way over to the older woman. Her eyes ate up the sight in front of her, slowly licking her lips as she let emerald rake up the smooth, exposed flesh of the brunette.

Regina wore nothing but a pair of skimpy, lace panties. She had blown off wearing a bra, since her dress already had built-in cups. Unfortunately for her, it only made her arousal even more evident. Her nipples had hardened underneath the intense stare of her lover and ached to be touched. The thrumming between her thighs intensified with each breath that the blonde had puffed against her tanned flesh.

Emma leaned forward and pressed her lips against the older woman's shoulder, feathering kisses down to her clavicle, earning a surprised gasp from Regina whose hands had now found purchase on the blonde's shoulders.

"Oh, Emma," Regina purred, her head tilting back as the blonde's mouth proceeded downward, patterning over the swell of the teacher's breast. She used her tongue to lave over the brunette's aching tip before completely pulling away with a devious smirk.

"You're on your period. No sex for you." And then she was gone, cackling like an evil witch.

Regina glared at the teenager, sucking in a breath as she pressed her thighs together.

"You're evil," she muttered, turning to snatch up a pair of her silk pajamas and don them just as quick.

"You're the one that's evil for getting the red sea to come out of your cooch today." Emma retorted, an amused smile on her face as she waited for the brunette in the middle of the bed. "But it'll be just my luck if I start mine, too."

"I cannot help what Mother Nature decides to do." Regina huffed and made her way over toward the bed as well. She clambered on with a soft grunt and rested her back against the headboard. " _Shit_!"

"What?" Emma jumped slightly and looked over to the brunette, frowning.

"I forgot my laptop. How am I supposed to not be angry when I forget small things?" Regina scoot off the bed and headed over to the bay window where she had left her laptop.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it. Just…" The blonde sighed, frowning at her girlfriend as she made her way back over to the bed, an angered look on her face.

"Maybe she's right. Maybe I am just a waste."

"Stop thinking that." Emma crawled over to Regina as she got back into her spot. She dropped next to her and stole a kiss. "Let's find a movie to watch, okay? How about something comical?"

"Bloody." Regina grumbled, opening the laptop up to bring up the web browser. "We need something bloody and gory."

"Well, I could think of a place to find something like that..."

"Now you're just being sick, Emma." Regina crinkled her nose and browsed through the horror movies listed.

"Yeah, sorry. Too far." The blonde mumbled, leaning into her lover as she looked through the movie titles as well. "Gina?"

"Yes, dear?" The brunette wrapped her arm around Emma, pulling the teenager flush against her side.

"Don't let Zelena get you down. She isn't worth your breath." Emma threw her arm over Regina's stomach, her head resting on the older woman's chest. "I want you to know that you're good enough."

" _Sweetheart_ ," she whispered, her eyes closing.

"Please just hear me out." Emma pleaded, pressing a few soft kisses to the brunette's jaw.

"I am hearing you." Regina purred, loving eyes focused on the blonde below her. "I believe everything that you say. You really do make me feel so much better about myself, Emma. You inspire me every day."

"I do?"

"Yes, you do, my love." The brunette kissed the top of Emma's head and gave her a squeeze, a happy purr rumbling in her throat.

"You make me feel like my heart is going to explode. I don't know how to explain what I'm feeling, but I just…" The younger woman trailed off, her head shaking slightly as a soft pink dusted her cheeks.

"I know how you feel. You make me feel the same way." Regina sighed, her hand absentmindedly rubbing the younger woman's arm as she finally chose a movie to play.

"Emma…?"

"Yes, Gina?"

Regina's heart squeezed and she smiled. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

* * *

Emma slowly gained consciousness, groaning softly as a stream of sunlight hit her face. It had taken her a few moments to realize where the hell she was and what the hell was wrapped in her arms.

Then she opened her eyes, soon greeted by an eyeful of brunette locks, splayed every which way including all over her own face. She sputtered out the hair that had managed to force its way into her mouth and shifted her head slightly away, though her arms remained firmly wrapped around the brunette in front of her.

"Emma?" She heard Regina's lost whisper as the brunette shifted in her arms. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah. I am." Emma replied, giving the older woman a reassuring squeeze. "I'm here."

"What time is it?"

"Let me check…" The blonde craned her head to check the digital clock on the bed stand. "It's almost noon."

" _Noon_?" Regina questioned, bewildered. "We should get up."

"It's cold." Emma snuggled into the blankets, pulling the older woman tighter against her body. "Let's stay in bed, my little spoon."

"Emma, honey, we have to get up." Regina turned around in the blonde's arms and faced her with large, brown eyes.

"Can't we just stay for five more minutes?" Emma pleaded, giving the teacher a pout. "You're very comfy."

"Fine…"

"Thank you!"

The blonde leaned forward to give the woman in front of her a sweet kiss, her teeth nibbling ever so slightly on full lips. Regina groaned softly against Emma's lips, one of her arms draping over her lover's side.

"What would you like for lunch, dear?"

"I don't know." Emma replied with a shrug, pressing lazy kisses against Regina's cheek and jaw. "I'm not really hungry. I never am when I first wake up."

"Neither am I." Regina gasped softly when Emma's lips found the sensitive flesh below her ear. Her breath had suddenly quickened and Emma could feel the short wisps of air against her ear, causing her to shiver.

"I know one thing that I'm hungry for, though."

"Mm, and what is that, Emma?" The brunette whispered huskily into the blonde's ear.

Emma couldn't help the moan that slip from her lips when those words shot straight to her core. " _You_."

"You don't want me." Regina muttered, nibbling on Emma's earlobe. The blonde had ceased her teasing kisses, her fingers digging into her lover's back.

"Yes, I do." She growled and went back to her kisses, trailing her lips down the older woman's neck to the pulse point where she gave a quick nip to the flesh. "I want you _so much_."

"Trust me, Emma. You don't want to touch me down there." Regina groaned as those teeth sunk into her neck, the grip only tightening with each heavy breath that she took.

"Damn your body…" Emma pulled away to gaze into whisky orbs, which here darkened with desire. "You're horny."

"Indeed, I am, my love." Regina mumbled, her own eyes searching dark green eyes. "You make me so undeniably wet."

"Do I?"

"Always," husked the older woman whose hands roamed underneath the blonde's white tank. Her fingers graced up the teenager's back, tickling her skin with the tips of them. Emma shivered, her breath hot against Regina's cheek. "You turn me on with just one look."

The blonde grinned like the Cheshire cat when her own hand had copied Regina's, sliding underneath the silk fabric of her sleepwear. She let her own fingers skitter along heated flesh, though they directed their attention to her figure and moved across her twitching stomach.

"Can I really do that?" Emma asked curiously, the palm of her hand flattening against Regina's stomach.

"Sometimes, yes." The older woman answered, taking a sharp inhalation of air. She squirmed slightly, pressing her abdomen against the younger woman's hand.

"Gina?" Emma let her gaze meet her girlfriend's, her thumb stroking the older woman's belly as she let her hand remain there.

"Hm?" she hummed in response, her eyes half-mast as she basked in the touch.

"I know it's a random question, but… I was thinking about yesterday, and some things we talked about weeks ago…"

"What is it, dear?" Her eyes opened fully as they searched Emma's face.

"You said that you wanted kids?"

"Indeed, I had." She nodded, a soft smile on her face. "What about it?"

"How?"

"There are different ways." Regina turned to lay on her back, taking the blonde's hand with her. "I can get pregnant by artificial insemination, or I can adopt, or some other ways like surrogates or forcing my partner to have the child."

"Did _you_ want to have a baby?" Emma slightly narrowed her eyes as she asked the question, her hand now stroking Regina's lower stomach. "Like, I mean, carry it yourself."

"I would like that, yes." The brunette nodded and looked over to her blonde lover. "But I fear I will be too old by the time I reach that point."

"Why is that? You're still young."

"How flattering of you, my dear." Regina chuckled. "In a little over two years I will be thirty."

"You can still have a kid." The blonde shrugged.

"Why are you asking me this?"

"Just curious."

"Do _you_ want children, Emma?"

"It depends. I have to find the right woman, you know?"

"Oh, I see." Her voice sounded almost disappointed and Emma wanted to stuff those words back into her mouth.

 _Silence_.

"How about we go eat?" Regina had finally said, sitting up in her spot which had forced Emma's hand away from her stomach. "What would you like?"

"I don't mind." The blonde sat up as well and flipped the covers off. "Anything you make is delicious."

"When are you supposed to meet up with your friends, dear?" The brunette quickly slid off the bed, not waiting as she headed towards the door.

Emma frowned and quickly scrambled after her. "Any time, I guess. Regina, are you okay?"

"I am perfectly fine, dear. Why might you ask?" The brunette smiled, though it looked forced when she had turned around to face Emma.

"Was it something I said?" The blonde tilted her head, watching as the brunette in front of her battled with oncoming emotions. She could see the way that her eyes had sparkled momentarily, as if tears were about to break through their barrier at any given moment. Then her face hardened as she threw on her usual mask.

"No." The brunette teacher shrugged and made her way down the stairs.

Emma stood in the hallway for a moment, wondering what the hell had happened. Was she upset over the comment that she had made earlier? She hadn't exactly worded what she said correctly and knew that it had come out wrong.

The blonde frowned and quickly met up with Regina who began preparing their lunch, which looked like it would be consisting of sandwiches and large pickles that Emma had found a jar of in the teacher's fridge earlier.

"Gina?" Emma came up behind the petite brunette and wrapped her arms around Regina's waist. She set her chin on her shoulder as she watched the older woman slap together the current sandwich.

"Yes?"

"If something is wrong, you should tell me." The blonde whispered, making sure to press a kiss just below the older woman's ear. She knew that it was Regina's favorite spot and it always tended to make her purr.

And this time was no exception. The brunette's head tilted slightly to the opposite side, allowing Emma to kiss that very spot again as she hummed. "It's really nothing, Emma."

"It _is_. You shouldn't hide anything from me. It'll only make things worse." When the brunette hadn't said anything, Emma continued, pressing another kiss to her skin. "And if you tell me, we can fix it."

"I'd rather not talk about it, Emma. Please, just let it be for now." Regina shrugged the blonde away and cleanly set the newly made sandwiches onto two plates, placing a pickle on each.

"Gina…" Emma sighed softly, taking the plate that her lover had handed over to her.

The brunette shook her head and sauntered out of the kitchen, leaving Emma to follow after her. Regina hadn't said anything when the blonde arrived into the dining room, for she had assumed her place at the table and began to take small bites from her sandwich. Her eyes every so often traveled to Emma, who was studying her with frowning eyes.

"What?" She finally mumbled after swallowing her fourth bite.

Emma blinked and looked away, flushing now that Regina had called her out on staring. "Nothing."

"Emma," the brunette whispered upon a sigh, setting her sandwich down to look at Emma, dark eyes sternly staring at the blonde's face.

"You're quiet and it's bothering me." Emma muttered, playing with the half-eaten sandwich in her hands.

"I don't want to talk about it." Regina's eyes dropped to her plate before she hesitantly reached across the table to set her hand on top of Emma's. When chestnut met with forest, Emma melted, Regina's hand relaxing against the pale hand. "But I do not want to be… cold towards you. It must just be my hormones."

"Yeah, it could always be that." Emma mumbled, flipping her hand over to lace their fingers together. She could already feel her worries dripping away and a sudden peace take over her body.

There was a tentative smile soon on Regina's face, twitching as if it were struggling to stay up. But it was enough to have the blonde smiling back, her heart fluttering like a swarm of butterflies in her chest.

"How could I ever be angry with you?" Regina asked, though so quietly Emma thought it was meant to be to herself.

"I can ask myself the same question." Emma grinned, giving the brunette's hand a tender squeeze. "You make amazing sandwiches." She took a large bite out of her sandwich, a smug look on her face as she chewed and stared at her lover, who had returned the gaze with wide eyes.

"You like me for my sandwiches?"

" _Amazing_ sandwiches." Emma nodded, taking another bite. "What the hell do you put on these things to make them so good?"

"Smoked ham, dear." Regina shook her head and used her free hand to take her own sandwich. She looked annoyed and Emma would be concerned if not for the twitch of her lips as the corners gave the faintest showing of a smile. "And mayo. A little bit of spicy mustard. And we must not forget the provolone cheese."

"It's fucking delicious." The blonde popped the last bite into her mouth. "And with the soggy bread soaked in pickle juice- _Marvelous!_ "

"Ah, well, that was unintended."

"Good kick to it."

"The kick would be the spicy mustard, as I had mentioned." The smile on Regina's face no longer remained hidden as it brightened her entire face. "And my special ingredient."

"What?"

"I cannot tell. It _is_ a secret."

Emma lifted her gaze to the brunette who wore a devious smirk and a secret that the blonde wanted to pry for. "Tell me! What is it?"

"Oh, but I cannot." Regina shrugged simply and picked her pickle up to take a bite, the sound of the crunch echoed in the otherwise quiet room.

"Why not?"

Regina pouted, giving the blonde _that_ look that she knew not to continue with questions or else things were about to get crazy. Emma sighed in defeat and sat back against her chair, chewing on the pickle as she watched the brunette do the same.

"Do you know how perverted that looks?" Emma couldn't help but to comment when Regina had sucked on hers. She stopped and looked up, pickle still in mouth and cheeks turning rosy.

That pickle was out of Regina's mouth quicker than Emma could say the word herself.

" _You're_ perverted, Emma." She mumbled, setting the food on her plate. "And now you've just ruined pickles for me."

"I'm sorry." Emma smirked, taking a bite off hers.

"I do not do…"

"I know," the blonde chuckled and gave her lover's hand a squeeze. "I was just playing with you. But, seriously, though…"

"I don't do dicks."

"But you do dildos." And that had Regina's cheeks flaring a florid pink, the heat creeping up her neck like night to day.

"Only when you're on the other end." The brunette growled, and it took a moment before the blonde noticed that her eyes had darkened incredibly. The blush on her cheeks had faded quickly.

"So, I have noticed." Emma smirked.

"Unfortunately, we cannot enjoy that activity today, or else you would be upstairs, strapped to my bed at this moment." Regina sat back in her chair, her grip on the blonde's hand had loosened. "Which reminds me... I will be right back." She pushed her chair from the table and stood, releasing Emma's hand altogether.

"I'll clean up." The blonde volunteered, doing the same as she gathered the plates. "That way you don't have to."

"Why are you suddenly being so nice?"

" _Hey_ , I always am." Emma stacked the plates on one another, Regina's half-eaten pickle on top.

"I was only joking, my dear." Regina leaned forward, pressed a kiss to her blonde girlfriend's cheek, and turned to leave the room.

Emma smiled absently as she made her way back to the kitchen, dirty dishes in tow. She dumped them into the sink, the brunette's pickle in her mouth, as she filled one side up with hot, soapy water. The dishes from last night remained.

She figured she would do the good deed and help Regina out, since she had contributed to the mess after all. So, as she waited for the brunette to return, she did just that, finishing up when Regina had come back with a surprised remark.

"You did my dishes."

"Indeed." The blonde smiled, turning around from drying her hands on a dish towel. "I'll probably be heading out soon, if you don't mind."

"No." Regina's voice was quiet, the faintest of frowns on her face that told Emma otherwise.

"I'll message and call you all I can." Emma promised, closing the distance between the two. She wrapped her arms lithely around her lover's waist and smiled when Regina had done the same, returning the embrace.

"I don't want to be bothersome." She smiled, pressing her forehead against the blonde's. "After all, you will be spending time with your friends."

"You're more important to me." Emma found herself saying.

"Surely not…" Regina blushed, her eyes lowering to the blonde's lips. "There is no possible way-"

"But there is." Emma quickly interrupted, pecking the brunette's lip. She smiled when the older woman hummed and pressed herself closer. "I will make sure to talk to you whenever I can."

"I would hope so, my love." The brunette's breath was hot against Emma's lips and with each heartbeat that had passed, it only quickened. The blonde exhaled shakily just as Regina had decided to move forward and kiss her, soft and tentative.

It hadn't taken long for Emma to return the kiss, her grip around the older woman had tightened as brought her closer, the kiss deepening into something sweet and passionate. Regina mewled against the blonde's lips as Emma couldn't help the groan that rumbled in her throat.

She could feel fingers sneaking up her back and the base of her neck to soon twist in her blonde curls as the cause of those shivers up her spine had parted her lips to run that sweet tongue of hers across Emma's mouth before pushing through into the tangy abyss.

Emma hummed and pulled Regina closer if it were possible, her tongue fawning over the other with soft strokes. The older woman growled, tugging Emma's hair to pull her head away, her breath short and hot as it puffed against the blonde's wet mouth.

"You have to go," she whispered breathlessly, untangling herself from the teenager's arms. "If we continue any further you will never leave."

"But I don't want to go…" Emma stood in the middle of the kitchen as the brunette backed away, her arms at her sides and her back hunched as she watched Regina.

"Do not make yourself regret your decision." Regina warned, her head gesturing towards the door.

Emma huffed out a breath of air before marching passed the teacher, sticking her tongue out childishly as she left the kitchen. She could hear Regina cluck behind her, muttering " _child_ " under her breath.

The blonde made haste to get upstairs and change, packing her things up once again. She didn't want to leave right now, but Regina was right because if she didn't, she would never get out of here. Though, it was probably the kissing bit that she had been talking about, but it was the truth nonetheless.

It didn't take long before Emma was back downstairs where Regina was waiting for her in the foyer, a sad smile on her face. The teenager stopped and readjusted her messenger bag with a crooked smile.

"I will see you… soon." The blonde had been the first to speak, slowly making her way over to her brunette lover.

Regina only nodded, her arms extending to wrap around the blonde as soon as she had come close enough. "When is soon?"

"I want to come over around Christmas, but if I can help it, I will come by sooner than that." Emma gave her a squeeze before pulling away.

"Don't come over on Christmas." Regina warned, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Remember that my mother is coming over."

"Oh, yes, how could I forget?" Emma shook her head slowly. "Good luck with your mother and whatever kind of fucked up shit is going on."

"Yes, thank you." Regina wrinkled her nose, her eyes darkening with the memories of the day before. "I will let you know when she does arrive and when she leaves so you know not to come over during that time."

"I'll keep my eyes peeled." Emma nodded, taking a step forward to give Regina one last kiss. They pulled away with contented sighs and smiles on their faces despite the displeasing subject.

"Goodbye, dear. Be safe and have fun." Regina took her lover's hand to give it a squeeze as the two of them headed towards the front door. She opened it and Emma stepped onto the porch, their hands still connected.

" _You_ be safe and good luck." Emma nodded towards her, a concerned expression on her face.

"I will be. Don't you worry about me." The English teacher gave Emma's hand another squeeze before she released it and grabbed the door. "Have fun, okay?"

"I'll try." Emma pulled her phone from her jacket pocket and waved it in the air as she stepped off the porch. "And I'll message you later, okay?"

"Alright, dear." Regina called after her as the blonde shoved the device in her pocket and continued down the path.


	20. The Queen of Hearts

Regina Mills paced the floor of her study, eyes darting furiously back and forth as if something were to pop out at any given moment. She clutched her cellphone in one hand, tight enough to shatter it, and a card in the other, stuffed inside a sealed envelope.

Her mother had called her just moments ago to notify her daughter of her arrival. She would be here soon and that had Regina's heart racing, thumping so hard against her chest she thought it would burst. Because Cora was on her way _here_. And Regina had _that_ in her hand, in which she was supposed to give her mother.

It was the night before Christmas and Emma's messages did little to soothe her when she had warned the blonde of her mother's arrival.

The sudden chiming of the doorbell hardly sated the brunette and she jumped in her spot in the middle of pacing, breaking from her thoughts. She was sure she had worn a track in her carpet by just those few minutes. It was discomforting how much her mother had affected her in the way that she did.

Regina took a heartbeat to regain herself and straighten out her outfit.

Then she was heading towards the front door, the heels she wore clicking on the wood as she moved to pull it open, instantly greeted by an all-too-large smile.

"Hello, dear. It certainly has been a while, has it not?" Cora's cool voice sent shivers down Regina's spine as she stepped into the foyer. She had stood, clad in a black business suit, her brown hair straight and let loose to cascade just past her shoulders.

"Yes, it has." Regina ground her teeth together and moved to shut the door. Sharp, brown eyes landed on the older woman in front of her. "What has it been? Three years or four?"

"Has it been so long?" Her mother clucked, shaking her head as she brought a hand out to brush across Regina's cheek. The younger brunette turned her head from the caress, her jaw grinding as she tried to keep her composure. She couldn't let her mother take her by the heart again.

Cora recoiled, a wounded expression on her face. "Oh, don't be that way, my love…"

"You never called me back." Regina muttered coldly, turning towards the kitchen. "Would you like anything?"

"No. I'm fine. I would like to catch up with you, my dear daughter." Cora smiled when Regina turned back around to face her mother, the brunette forced one on her own face before taking off across the foyer.

"Then why don't you join me in the sitting room?" She pointed in the direction even as she headed there, her mother on her heels.

Once they got settled on the couch, Regina taking the opposite end as her mother, she started up the conversation. "What made you decide to visit me after so long?"

"How have you been, Regina?" Cora countered the teacher's question with her own as she casually crossed her legs, a light smile on her crimson lips.

"I have been getting by." Regina answered, playing with the envelope still in her hand. "But I know your true intention behind that question. I am not blind, mother."

"Oh?" Cora blinked. "And what might that be?"

"You want to know if I had met anyone." Regina glanced up. "I know you, mother. You cannot fool me with your advertence towards the topic."

Her mother just sat there with the same smile on her face, though she hadn't said a word in protest to the brunette's statement.

"I have met several people."

"And by people, I am sure that you mean _women_." Cora shook her head with the disgust that Regina had become all too familiar with. "Honestly, Regina, I simply do not understand this fascination that you have with women. They cannot give you what a man can."

"You mean children, don't you?" The younger woman scoffed, averting her gaze from her mother, preparing herself for the argument that they had had so many times before.

"And so much more, Regina dear. How can you not see that?" One of Cora's hands found its way on Regina's thigh and she gave it a squeeze. "How can you even love a woman the way you would a man?"

"The same, mother, or so I assume." Regina replied nonchalantly, ignoring the hand that slid up her thigh, soon detaching itself to cup her cheek.

"But a man can give you so much more, Regina."

"A penis?" The brunette snapped her head over to her mother, forcing the hand away. "Because, honestly mother, I do not find those the least bit appealing."

"That is not what I meant." Cora scoffed, giving her daughter a cynical look.

"Then what did you mean? Please, enlighten me."

"I meant-"

"On the other hand, don't. Just… don't. I do not wish to hear this. _Again_." Regina squeezed her phone, dropping her gaze to her lap before bringing whisky orbs back up to meet with her mother's. "It seems that every conversation we have ends with this discussion."

"Because I would like for you to see-"

"See what, mother? I cannot see through your eyes. I am _not_ you. I am _me_." She argued, her eyes misting. "I am my own person, mother. I have my own likes and dislikes and they are not _yours_. Please. I wish you would just respect my opinions and stop controlling my life."

Cora audibly sighed beside Regina, her gaze dropping to her lap. They both sat in silence for what felt like an uncomfortably long while, each left to their own thoughts.

But then she slipped into a different mood, a watery smile on her lips as she gazed back up at her daughter. "You're right, Regina. I cannot control your thoughts or feelings. You are your own person and I should not have taken advantage of my influence in your life."

Regina's heart skipped a beat at her mother's words. That was exactly what she had wanted her mother to grasp – the concept that she had been trying to advertise to that woman for so long. But, that was the thing. It was _exactly_ what Regina wanted to hear.

"Yes. That's exactly what I want you to understand, mother. I want you to know how _I_ feel, even if I do not share the same views as you do." She said, skeptically.

"I finally do understand, dear. Though, I don't think I will ever get used to the fact that you…" Cora trailed off, though Regina knew what she was going to say.

"I have come to understand that." She dipped her head.

"Come here, my love. Come lay with mommy." Cora extended an arm, inviting Regina to lean into her.

The younger brunette hesitated before she scooted the distance between them and leaned into her mother as Cora's arm wrapped around her, pulling her daughter close. She felt a kiss on the top of her head and couldn't help the small smile on her lips. Her mother smelled of roses.

"There we go." Cora smiled. "Tell me, Regina, have you met any-… _women_?"

"No. I have not." Regina replied, looking straight ahead of her.

"That's a shame." Though, she could hear the smug smirk that her mother wore. "How has your job been treating you?"

"The students have come and gone and most have been rude as they always were." The English teacher solemnly sighed. She had confided in her mother so long ago about her students and how some had despised her. Cora had only found it humorous that they had even come up with nicknames for her, one being the Evil Queen.

"Oh, dear…" Cora frowned this time, her hand gently stroking her daughter's raven locks. "They aren't giving you too hard of a time, are they?"

"No," Regina hummed, her eyes fluttering shut as she embraced the way her mother now ran her fingers through her hair. "The assignments are the cause of my stress nowadays."

"You do not have too much, now, do you?"

Regina only shrugged and sunk further against her mother, face pressing into the expensive fabric of her designer blazer. Her mother's scent was enticing, drawing her in like a moth to a flame. It had brought her back to those times that her mother had held her, which were few and far between, but beautiful nonetheless.

Cora had noticed these movements and grinned, small, but genuine. Her arms held tightly onto Regina, only bringing her closer as she dropped another kiss to the top of her head.

"Despite what you must think, Regina, I _do_ love you." She softly whispered against dark brown strands as fingers continued to comb through them. "I only hope that you love me back."

"Of course, I love you. You're my mother." Regina muttered against Cora's jacket, her dark eyes lifting to meet with her mother's. "Why would you need to think otherwise?"

"You've seemed short with me since my arrival." Cora responded quietly, her voice solemn.

Regina furrowed her brows and shifted to sit up, although continued to lean against her mother. "That was because you had already started on my personal life that you have no business prying into."

"I was only concerned, Regina. You seem so lonely and this house is far too large for you to stay in all by yourself." Cora clucked her tongue and went back to stroking her daughter's hair, her gaze sliding around the large sitting room as if to solidify her point.

"You're the one who bought me the house, mother." Regina sighed, dropping her eyes to her lap.

"But it was your responsibility to fill it, dear." Cora stopped her strokes and brought her hand back to herself, pushing her daughter away from her. "You're _twenty-seven_! You should have had a few kids by now. You are reaching middle-age and, honestly Regina, you do not have much time left on your biological clock."

"You don't need to remind me of that, _mother_." Regina hissed, scooting away from Cora once again.

"It appears to me that you do need reminding, _daughter_."

"How could I ever be a mother when I never had one?" Regina stood and shot daggers at her mother, who in return, gazed at her with a slack jaw.

The older woman stood as well and soon enough drew her hand out to slap her daughter, but Regina reacted quickly and dodged it much to Cora's discontent. "How _dare_ you say that to me, Regina? You would not be where you are today if it were not for me! Who raised you? Who provided you with food, clothes, and a roof over your head? I may have been a busy woman, but I was also a single mother and I provided you with all the love that I could give you. I have done nothing but good for you, ungrateful brat."

"Nothing but good for me, mother? Is that what you would like to call it?" Regina scoffed and took a step back from the woman in front of her, every cell in her body buzzing with anger. "You have lied to me and you… you've used me..." Her cracked voice wavered with each word.

"I have not once lied to you, Regina. Where are you getting such inane ideas-?"

"This, mother! _This!_ " Regina threw the letter that she had been holding at Cora, who watched it drop to the floor at her feet.

The brunette didn't give enough time to watch her mother pick the envelope up, instead, she rushed by the woman and straight upstairs to her bedroom. She couldn't hold back any longer and she was about to burst.

And so, she had as soon as the brunette teacher had collapsed on the bed. Her mother made her so very _angry_ , yet so very _small_. She felt as if she wasn't large enough to stand up to her mother.

Cora thought she had done nothing but good with her child, but she had done the exact opposite. It had taken years for Regina to realize that, and when she had, it had been too late. Her mother already had left her mark on the brunette.

Regina flopped onto her back and wiped tears from her eyes. She felt so silly for being in her room and crying like this. She felt like she was back at her mother's house as a little girl.

The brunette teacher made her way to the side of the bed that Emma normally found herself on. It was strange how she seemed to be able to make herself so at home. Regina felt as if Emma were already living here, though she really was not, no matter how much she wanted that to be true.

Her mother was right. It was lonely in this house being here all by herself. It didn't feel like a home at all, except for when the blonde teenager had found herself here. She felt as if they were something of a family, living together and eating together and just snuggling on the couch as they watched reruns of sitcoms on the television.

"Oh, gods, what's happening?" Regina muttered to herself, tossing back onto her stomach to bury her face into the pillow Emma used. It smelled just like her. Her heart hurt at the thought of the blonde and her absence, and the sudden need of her in this dark hour.

She pulled her phone up to scroll through her contacts and found Emma's name to shoot her a quick message.

 _ **Emma. If you are available, please respond. I need to talk to you.**_

The buzzing of her phone distracted Emma away from the conversation with her friends. She blinked slightly and pulled the device from her pants pocket to check the message that no doubt came from Regina.

"On your phone, again, Em? Who the hell are you talking to?" Ruby clucked her tongue. She stood across from the blonde, who had been seated next to Graham on a stool at the counter. Belle was on the other side, a lively smile on her face as she watched the brunette next to her smirk. "You got a girlfriend?"

"None of your business." Graham gave their blonde friend a knowing look and Emma readily returned it with one that told him she would bust a ball if he ever spilled.

"So, you _do_." Ruby gave her a wolfish grin and leaned against the counter on her elbows. "Spill."

"No," Emma hissed and quickly replied to Regina.

 _Hey, I'm always available for you. What's wrong?_

"Graham?" The brunette waitress lifted her gaze to their male friend and gestured towards Emma, the grin still playing on her lips. "You know what to do."

Emma snapped her head up and glared at the two of them. "No. Don't even think about it."

"Oh, come on, Em!" Ruby feigned a pout, Belle behind her giggling.

"Maybe we should just leave her alone." The petite brunette whispered, laying a gentle hand on the older teen's back. "Come on. Just lay off it. You know how Em likes her privacy."

"Yeah. Listen to Belle." Emma tucked her phone into her pocket and continued to shoot daggers at the trio.

"I agree with Belle." Graham finally said, shaking his head at Ruby who also glared at him. He knew what Emma would do if he were to join in Ruby's plot.

"You all suck." Ruby stuck her tongue out before sitting up, an arm slipping around Belle's waist. "All I wanted was to know, but no! You all have to go against me."

"I didn't pry into your and Belle's suspicious activities, did I? I only asked and Belle admitted it." Emma shrugged.

The waitress huffed and Graham chuckled as Emma's phone buzzed once again.

 _ **My mother is here. Emma, honey, I need to talk to you to get my mind off things. You can tell me if I'm disturbing your evening. I don't want to bug you and I am perfectly fine if you cannot talk.**_

Emma's eyes slid over the text on her phone screen several times over, a frown claiming her lips.

 _What do you want me to talk about? I always have time for you, baby._

She simply asked, sending the message just as her phone got yanked from between her fingers by Ruby.

"What the hell, Ruby?!" She hissed and made a grab for her cellphone, but the waitress was quick enough to move it out of the way. Emma was no longer seated by the time Ruby had an accomplished smirk on her face. The blonde made her way around the counter to chase after her friend, Graham and Belle watching with horrified eyes as the two chased around the diner, Ruby giggling like an idiot and Emma cursing her out.

The patrons watched with slight amusement, others horrified. Emma couldn't care less what they thought, Ruby was dead meat if she didn't give her phone back. Her need to talk with Regina only fueled her desire to wipe that goddamn smirk off her best friend's face.

"Give that back!" The blonde growled just as Ruby had made her way into the bathroom. Emma followed her, but to her dismay, the door was locked as she tried for the handle several times over. "Ruby! You better give that fucking phone back or so help me I will kick your ass into next week!"

Graham and Belle had made their way now behind the blonde, both expectantly staring at the door in front of them.

"Bitch is gonna get roasted…"

"Don't hurt her too much..."

Graham whistled and Belle pleaded, respectively.

"Tell her to give me my phone back." Emma turned on Belle and grabbed her by the shoulders, forest eyes wild.

"Now, what is going on here?" Ruby's granny had come up behind the three friends who all stood in front of the women's bathroom door.

"Your granddaughter has my cellphone and she won't give it back!" Emma pointed at the wood barricading her and said person.

" _Ruby Lucas_!"

"Oh! You got a new message from your smiley-faced girlfriend!" Ruby teased behind the door and Emma could just _see_ that smirk on her face as she would be waving the device in the air.

"You better not be reading _any_ of my messages!" Emma banged her fists on the door. "Give me my damn phone back!"

But it was too late as the brunette had started to repeat what Emma assumed she was reading on the cellphone. "Thank you, dear. You do not know how much I appreciate this. I just don't think I will be able to survive my mother without you-"

"Shut the fuck up!" Emma screeched and banged on the door once again. Luckily, Ruby _had_ stopped reading, but that only had the blonde staring at the door. She needed that goddamn phone and the waitress seemed so adamant to keep it. Why did she have such obnoxious friends?

The door soon opened, though, before the blonde could panic more about her friend reading the message. Luckily, it wouldn't be giving away the sender, since Emma had made sure not to have Regina's name there; and with the ones that she _had_ sent Regina's name in, she had promptly deleted.

Ruby looked solemn as she appeared in the doorway and dropped Emma's phone into the blonde's awaiting hand. She didn't look amused whatsoever. She looked the complete opposite.

"I'm sorry." Ruby gravely muttered and moved past Emma, Belle following behind her like a puppy.

"What's going on?" Graham stuck behind as Emma leaned against the wall to look at the message that had seemed to change her friend's mood completely. "Is it… _Regina?_ "

"Stuff's going on, yeah. But not between us. Don't worry about it." Emma shrugged and read.

 _ **Thank you, dear. You do not know how much I appreciate this. I just don't think I will be able to survive my mother without you. If I stop responding, my mother has caught my attention. I can hear her move around downstairs, so it might be soon. Emma, tell me about your day.**_

The sudden demand had Emma almost mystified, but she suspected that the older woman had wanted to get her mind off things. After all, she was the one that wanted Emma to speak to her about anything. Starting off with her day would be a good way to handle things, even though they had talked prior about this.

"Emma?" Graham lowered his face and ducked in front of the blonde with a concerned expression. "Is there something wrong? The way Ruby… Did she find out?"

"No." Emma simply replied, looking up at her male friend. She frowned. If Ruby had read the rest of this, she would know that something was up and that wasn't good.

"Oh…"

"Don't worry about it." Emma shrugged and quickly tapped a response before hitting send. She didn't want to keep too long to raise suspicions from her friends, though, she was already on radar.

 _Of cours Gina. Ur welcum. Dont worry bout it. Im doin alright. My day wasnt too bad. I went w Ruby Belle and Graham to see movie at theater. We ate popcorn and thats when I was talking w you earlier. Rigt now Im at Grannys w them. Im waiting for MM n David to pick me up bring me home. Rubys granny wasnt fond of her driving so im stuck here. Srry for my crappy typin just trying to gt back to them w/o ?s. Rby took my cell n she read last msg_

Emma slipped onto the diner stool again, Graham following suit.

"Did you read the rest of that message?" Emma quirked a brow at the brunette waitress who donned a guilty look. She nodded slowly and so did Emma, sighing as she slumped against the stood.

"Look, I'm sorry…" The brunette mumbled, leaning on her elbows again. "But… What the hell's going on?"

"None of your goddamn business."

"It sounded pretty intense." Ruby shrugged, her eyes on Emma's cellphone.

"And it's still none of your goddamn business." Emma narrowed her eyes at the brunette and looked at the new message that had her phone buzzing once again. That was quick.

 _ **If you can, for now, tell Graham that I had said hello and hope that he is doing well. Does he like the wolf that you painted for him? I understand if you are typing incoherently. Does Ruby know that it's me?**_

"Emma? If something's going on… and something bad, you should inform the sheriff."

"Yes. Tell my _father_." Emma rolled her eyes and glared up at her friend. "Look, everything is fine. Alright? Don't worry about it."

"If you're sure…"

"I am." The blonde shook her head and went back to her phone to send in a reply, though she could hear her friends buzzing about the message in her ear. Ruby was answering Graham's question about what she had read and Belle seemed to be filling in parts that the waitress must have told her earlier.

"Shut up about it." Emma growled. "It's my own private conversation that I would like to keep to myself and no one else."

"Sorry…" Graham mumbled, looking away.

Belle had done the same and Ruby merely frowned, her sparkling orbs on Emma as she continued to write in a message, hitting send soon after.

 _No. She doesn't know who you are. Don't worry about that. I'll be sure to give him the message later. Right now I have Ruby and Belle breathing down my neck. He really liked the painting. He said he loved it and that I should make more for him. I'll be here for you, even if I'm not. Think of me._

 _ **She's coming… Talk to you later.**_

The blonde chewed on the inside of her cheeks, anxiously tapping her phone on her lap. She wasn't going to rest until she got another message from her brunette lover. She wouldn't be able to do anything but worry about what was going to happen in that house on 108 Mifflin Street.

"What's wrong, Em? You've gone pale…" Ruby piped up in concern, eyes sharply focused on the blonde in front of her, whose blood had completely drained from her face. Belle leaned in with a replicated look and Graham on her other side the same.

"I'm fine…" Emma weakly reassured, slipping her phone into her jacket pocket. "I'm perfectly fine. Don't worry about me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I am. I'm fine…" _I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine._ She kept telling herself that, hoping that it would soon come true. It would drive her from the reality that she was scared _shitless_ for Regina because who the hell knew what her mother was capable of.

The bell to the diner suddenly tinged as someone had entered, and Emma nearly flew out of her seat. Perhaps that was Mary Margaret and David. That would be good. She could go home and rest until the queasiness in her stomach subsided.

But when she turned to lay eyes upon the newcomer, she was frozen stiff in her spot. A redheaded woman had entered the premises, skin pale and eyes bright green as they traveled over the makings of the restaurant. She took a seat by the door, soon picking up a menu.

"Who's that?" Emma could hear Belle ask and Ruby responded negatively.

"I don't know. She checked into the bed and breakfast last week."

But Emma knew _exactly_ who that woman was as her friends were left mystified.

"Do you know who it is, Em?" Graham asked, nudging the blonde's arm. He was gazing at her as if he knew that she knew who it was, but he also knew that she wouldn't answer the question in a way that would confirm it.

"No," Emma muttered, turning to face Ruby and Belle once again as her mind screamed:

" _Zelena_."

Regina heard her mother say that name as she threw the door to her bedroom open, holding the letter high in the air with a tight grip. Her nostrils flared and her eyes burned as if someone had betrayed her.

Cora knew that she couldn't hide the fact that she had another daughter, but she would be damned if she would admit to it. She would find a way to blame things on Regina as she did with many things, including her father, Henry's, death so many years ago.

"Yes, you mean the illegitimate daughter that you threw away before I was even thought of?" Regina quipped, sitting up as she slid her phone under Emma's pillow. "She may have visited a few days ago to tell me something."

"What do you mean?" Cora hissed, stomping toward the bed that Regina still occupied. The brunette looked up at her mother and clucked.

"She told me that you were dying."

Her mother stumbled, looking as if she had gotten slapped across the face. "I-I…"

"Failed to tell me about this. Is this why you wanted to visit me on such a whim? To tell me that you would be dying? And that you want to pass your business onto me?" Regina hissed, palms slamming against the mattress. "Why don't you just give it to _her?_ That's what she wants and that's what she's threatening me about."

"Because she is not _my_ daughter. Not anymore."

"She's your daughter whether you like it or not, mother."

Cora glared at her, moving threateningly close. "You will not talk to me like that."

"This was all your formulated plan, wasn't it? Raise me to become the next heir of your business and try to perfect me to be so, but I _refused."_ Regina pressed her back to the headboard as Cora made another step towards her, head ducking down to her level. "Zelena seems to be the most profitable choice in this situation. She _wants_ this. I _don't_. She's trained in this. I'm not."

"But she was not raised by me."

"But she's not _gay_ like I am! Isn't that what you want? A 'normal' child?"

"I will not tolerate you speaking to me like that, Regina." Cora grabbed the brunette teacher's shoulders and squeezed. Regina remained still as stone. "I raised you _better_ than this. It is not my fault you were such an insolent child. You have only grown into an even more insolent woman that will not appreciate what is given to her."

"I never _asked_ for any of this, mother." Regina brought her gaze up to meet with Cora's, her jaw clenched when her mother's nails dug painfully into her flesh. "At least with her, you would get everything you ever wanted in a daughter that I could not provide."

"Don't you understand what I am saying, you stupid woman? I _don't_ want her!" Cora hissed, her face mere inches from Regina's. She could feel her mother's breath hot against her face.

"But she wants _you_. She's _jealous_ of me, mother. She came into my house and blatantly showed just that. She wants _my_ life. She wants you to want her." Regina grunted, trying to keep her distance from her mother, though she knew it was futile. The older woman loomed over her like a shadow, a wicked grin on her lips.

"Oh, but dear, what she doesn't understand is that I do not want her. I don't care if she can bear me children. I don't care if she wants control of the firm. She only wants this for one reason and that is the money. She grew up poor, I am sure. She is greedy. She is _green_ with envy for _you_ , my love, because you have everything that she does not." Cora released her daughter and clambered onto the bed next to her. Regina remained still, watching her mother's every movement with baited breath. "She has explained it all in her letter to me and I have read between the lines. She wants the high life and the lavish items. Do you know what she would be willing to do to get those items, my daughter?"

"What?" Regina muttered, looking away from her mother.

"She would be willing to do so much for me." Cora's eyes twinkled. "So much more than you could ever do. She had offered me such high expectations, but you know, one always falls short of such things. She wouldn't be able to go through with it."

"With what?"

Cora turned her gaze to meet with Regina's, and suddenly a spark of dread trembled down her spine. "She would be willing to _kill_ for me. She would be willing to _create_ life for me. She would be willing to _follow_ every order that I would give to her."

"Then why don't you want her? She sounds like the perfect drone." Regina winced when her mother spoke, her tone a deadly whisper.

"It's too easy, my love. Don't you understand? She would be _willing_ to do these things for me and it is no fun."

"So, you would rather fight tooth and nail with me?" Regina scoffed. "I don't believe a word of it."

"Oh, but Regina, you have so much potential and even more than that of your dear sister." Cora stroked the teacher's dark locks, a smile on her face.

"How do I, mother? I am opposite what you want." The brunette tried her best to ignore her mother's hand, but she could feel her body slowly leaning toward the older woman's own. "I cannot provide you with whatever you desire and you know this. I will not give you a son-in-law, and I will not take over the business."

"Darling, I do not mind." She soothed, accepting her daughter's form against her own. She brought her arm around Regina and continued to run her fingers through the younger woman's hair, holding her as if she owned her entire being. "You do not have to provide me those things. I just want you to be my daughter."

"I was always your daughter." Regina tried to will her body away, but she just could not move. Her mother had grasped her by the heart and it was impossible to pull away.

"I'm dying, Regina."

"I know that." The brunette paused and looked up to meet her mother's gaze, which had turned sullen and the look on her face indicated that there was more to it.

"I have come to terms that I will never be able to change your mind, Regina. I want to be on friendly grounds with you until I depart from this Earth. Our war must end, my love. I miss my daughter."

She melted into her mother, eyes closing as she felt the older woman's hand move up and down her back as if she were soothing her from a tearful tantrum. She was that child again. She was brought back into her mother's arms, engulfed by that sweet, rosy scent.

"I miss you too, mother," Regina finally whispered, turning her nose into her mother's silk blouse.

"Are you really dying?" She asked, her voice soft, broken, as she finally spoke after several moments of silence. It had felt as if the reality of those words just sunk in, leaving her breathless.

"Yes, my love." Cora whispered, bringing her daughter tighter against her body.

"What is it?"

"Something terminal."

"How long?"

"They aren't certain. But they said I've had it for quite some time and it's just now taking its toll on me." The older woman explained, rubbing Regina's back when she stiffened from the news. "They are giving me six months to a year, but it could be longer. They say I'm strong willed."

"You are, mother. You definitely are." Regina croaked. "But I thought you would be immortal."

"No one is, darling." Cora hushed as the brunette sniffled.

"Don't you want someone to take on your business?"

"It has been running for thirty years, dear." Her mother assured, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "I think it is fine to slowly diminish."

"But you're doing so well with it. Your clients… They will-"

"They will find someone else to support them." Cora murmured.

Regina sighed softly and snuggled against her mother's side. Cora had built this business from ground up and it had become successful throughout her lifetime. It was a sad thing to see it go to waste after her mother passed. But Regina didn't know a thing about lawyering and didn't have a desire to run such a business anyways. She found teaching to be heinous at times, but it suited her perfectly.

"In her letter, Zelena said that you told her that you were barren. Is that true?" Cora inquired Regina as the younger woman blinked with slight confusion. She had nearly forgotten that she told her dear sister that to save Emma's hide those days ago.

"Yes."

"Why would you do that?"

"I have my reasons." Regina husked, staring at the wall in front of her.

"You didn't tell her that you were-"

"No. I didn't feel that she needed to know."

"Why would you bring any of this up in the first place?" Cora shifted, her finger twirling a piece of Regina's hair around it. "It is not true, is it?"

"No. It's not." The brunette lay rigid.

"She mentioned there was a blonde woman here." Cora suddenly stated. "Young, almost like a teenager. Were you covering because of this young woman?"

"She's one of my students." Regina hissed through clenched teeth.

"Oh?"

"I was tutoring her." The brunette quickly mended. She knew exactly where her mother's thoughts were veering.

"Zelena had suspicions." Cora spoke, pulling the letter up from beside her and read from it. "'Dearest mother, I fear that our precious Regina might not be quite as normal as we had hoped. She had a spiel of telling me she was barren, but I did not believe it for one minute. There was a young woman with her and I fear that she is covering up for something far greater. She had lied to you, if she had told you she was barren as well for two women cannot produce a fruit for her womb…' She knew you were lying, Regina."

The brunette woman didn't relax in her spot. She wondered what other thoughts that Zelena had written in that letter for her mother. What else did she say about Regina that she was quite sure Cora already knew? Whatever this was had probably turned into a last-ditch effort to win her mother over.

"Who really was this young, blonde woman, Regina?" Cora inquired, eyes never leaving the letter.

"I told you, she is one of my-"

"Following you around like a puppy? The words in this letter prove otherwise, darling. Do not lie to me." Cora pushed Regina roughly away from her, leaving the brunette to fall on the opposite side of the bed. She looked over to her mother, mocha orbs wide as saucers. "Tell me the truth, Regina! A _student_ would not touch you nor would she 'try to calm you down' and call you 'Gina.'"

"She's no one, mother…"

"Stop fibbing, Regina. You know better than that." The older woman swiftly moved, the letter floating from her fingers as she pinned her daughter to the bed, wrists above head.

"Mother!" Regina yelped in alarm, struggling beneath her mother's grip. The woman was surprisingly strong. "I am no longer a little girl."

"But you sure are _fucking_ little girls now, aren't you, Regina?" Cora's grip on Regina's wrists tightened enough to earn a squeak from the younger woman, who stared vulnerably into her mother's vicious eyes. "That's just _sick!_ You can't get anyone your age, can you? You don't realize how _sick_ you and your _disgusting_ lifestyle are."

"I'm not _fucking_ little girls!" Regina tried to maintain her sanity as she struggled in her mother's grip, though it only proved futile as the older woman's grip tightened, crushing her wrists painfully into one another. The brunette clenched her jaw and remained silent, not willing to give Cora the satisfaction of her discomfort.

Regina had let her guard down again as she had told herself not to do all night. She was here as a result, her mother's fingers pressed into her throat, blocking her airway.

"You are _lying_ to me!" _Squeeze_. Regina could barely breathe now as she struggled to get oxygen into her lungs.

"I-I…"

"The next words out of your mouth better be the truth, Regina." Cora hissed, ducking her head mere inches from Regina's own, her teeth bared in a snarl. Her daughter shrunk against the bed, which had relieved some of the pressure against her throat, but the hand that had held both of her wrists remained.

"Who was that woman at your house?"

"M-My student…" Regina answered honestly, though her mother hadn't taken it as the truth. Her fingers wrapped tighter around the darker woman's slender throat. Each breath was a struggle for air, but she remained calm and no longer struggled.

"Lies! Tell me who that woman is!" Regina's mother snarled, all sense of humanity gone from her brown eyes.

Regina gasped for air, desperate now to get oxygen into her burning lungs. Her body was seizing with panic now and she could feel herself start to hyperventilate. Darkness crept into the corner of her vision as she began to struggle once again. Her mother wanted the answer that Regina was not willing to give and would soon rather lose consciousness than to tell that _monster_ who her lover was.

" _Who is she, Regina?"_ Cora's voice was menacing, but Regina was slipping from consciousness and at a rather rapid pace as well.

She smiled, darkness and tears clouding her vision. Her mother would never know of the blonde's face in her mind's eye, grinning sweetly at her in return:

 _Emma_.

"Yeah?" Emma popped her head up as she heard her name being called from the front of the diner. Mary Margaret and David were here; the latter was the one to call out to her.

"Are you ready, dear?" That was Mary Margaret, who wore a sweet smile as Emma gathered her bags.

The blonde turned to her friends with a smile and waved. "Bye, guys. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Tell me what you get, girl." Ruby grinned and winked. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

"We'll see." Emma chuckled and turned to hug Graham. "I don't know if I'll see you before you leave."

"Maybe." He grinned and returned the hug. "I can drop by."

"Awesome." The blonde looked to Belle who appeared to be staring at something across the diner. Emma followed her gaze curiously to land on the newcomer; Zelena.

It had been about a half hour and the woman still hadn't left. She had been enjoying her meal as slowly as possible. Emma didn't mind, just so long as she didn't recognize her enough to say something.

"Bye, Belle." Emma waved a hand in front of her friend's face, chuckling when she jumped.

"Oh, yeah. See you." She grinned and drew her attention away from the redheaded woman.

Emma nodded and headed toward her parents, who were waiting patiently for the blonde to gather herself. Sooner rather than later, they left the diner and headed into the oncoming blizzard to find David's truck parked just outside.

"I've never seen her before." David continued a conversation he and Mary Margaret had been having when they reached the truck and got in. Emma sat squished between the two of them as his wife answered.

"I haven't either."

"Who?" The blonde asked, hugging her bag close.

"That woman in the diner. She was sitting by the door. She had auburn hair in a clip." Mary Margaret responded. David started up the truck and began to pull away from the curb.

"Her name is Zelena. She checked in at the bed and breakfast, so Ruby had said." Emma shrugged. There was no harm in knowing her name, right? Ruby knew it, but didn't know _who_ the woman was.

"Huh. I wonder how long she's going to be in town." The short-haired brunette wondered aloud, her eyes on the road. "Maybe I'll run into her and I can show her around."

 _Oh, gods, don't do that_.

"Maybe." Emma shrugged, looking at her hands. "But you never know with newcomers of who they might be or whatever. She could be a murderer for all we know."

"She certainly doesn't look it." Mary Margaret smiled and Emma was about to be sick.

"We're home." David announced before his wife could speak any further. The trio exited the truck and made their way quickly to the loft, soon entering through the door marked with a 3.

"Are you excited for tomorrow?" Mary Margaret asked, her voice a little too cheerful, as they stopped in the dining room bit of the house.

"Yeah, I guess." Emma shrugged, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Her mother frowned. "You don't seem too excited…"

"I'm just not really used to the holiday." The blonde shrugged again. "But I appreciate what you do for me."

"I know, Emma." Mary Margaret pulled her into an unexpected hug, a wide grin on her face. "Why don't you run up to bed? It's late and I'm sure you would like to be well-rested for the morning."

"I'm not-… I guess." Emma blinked, hugging the woman back. She was about to pull away until David had come up behind her and made her into a sandwich, hugging his daughter and wife from behind.

"Goodnight…" she grumbled, trying to wiggle away from the two.

"Goodnight, honey." Mary Margaret dropped a kiss to the top of her head and David followed, repeating the same words.

"We'll get you up in the morning. Don't stay up too late." He warned as the blonde nodded, turning towards the stairs to head up to her room.

"I won't!" She called out behind her, making her way up the stairs.

Emma wasn't entirely sure how long she would be staying up, but she sure as hell wasn't tired at this moment. She was hoping to finish up Regina's painting, which she had taken with her when she went with her friends over the weekend and the days that followed.

They never asked and she never told, so she could complete it while they sat around Graham's room at the bed and breakfast and talked with one another.

All she needed to do now was put a few touch-ups and last minute add-ins and it was complete. She only hoped that Regina would like it.

Graham had acted delighted upon first laying eyes on his gift when Emma had handed it over. She had mentioned that she had a special, hand-made gift for him but hadn't exactly revealed what it was. He seemed excited then and even more so when she had pulled it from her bag.

"Holy shit, Emma. I wished I got you something better…" Graham had held the frame in hand, eyes wide as he stared at the lone wolf on the paper. "It… looks so… awesome. I can't even explain. You're perfect!"

"No, I'm not. I just have a lot of time on my hands." Emma had shrugged, but the proud grin on the face gave her away.

"I love it. I'll be sure to hang this up in my living room as soon as I get home." He had given the painting one last look before setting it down on the couch behind them, then grabbed a small box, wrapped delicately in silver paper. He had handed it over to Emma with a grin. "It's not as awesome or heartfelt as yours, but I saw it in a shop and thought of you."

The blonde had quickly ripped the paper off, muttering, "you didn't have to get me anything."

"Oh, but I did." He had smirked as she opened the box to reveal a small glass swan, clear as water, with bright green eyes – studded with what looked like emerald pieces. It almost reminded her of the wolf that he had given Ruby earlier.

"Holy crap, man…" Emma had picked the little bird up and looked at it, almost afraid to handle the thing in fear of breaking it. "It's beautiful."

"Yeah, I thought you'd like it." He had smiled widely.

And she did like it. She loved the thing. Emma had slipped it back into the box and placed it carefully into a compartment in her messenger bag that she was currently digging through to retrieve the box. Once she found it, she pulled it out and opened it up to look at the immaculate glass swan.

She turned around and placed it on the nightstand next to her bed, fitting it beside the little lamp there. It looked nice and the light reflected inside the little bird, making it appear to glow.

"Awesome," she muttered, setting the box on the little shelf underneath the nightstand.

She'd have to show Mary Margaret and David later. They'd been so busy to rush her upstairs, no doubt to prepare for tomorrow morning, that she had completely forgot about it. And the other things that her friends had given her.

Ruby had given her one of those hot cocoa kits complete with a large mug, a couple packets of powdered cocoa, some mini marshmallows, and peppermint sticks. Then she had ended up handing Emma a second gift, in which she had opened with a quirked brow only to notice that it was a small container of cinnamon.

The blonde had returned the favor by handing over a little notepad with a picture of a wolf on it as a sort of gag gift, saying that she could now have her own special little order taking pad for her waitressing job. Later, though, she had given the brunette waitress her real gift, which was a frilly, red scarf that she had come across one day at the mall when she went with her parents for their holiday shopping.

That's where she also found the books that she had given Belle, a box set to the series that she had enjoyed. Emma could never remember the name of them, but clearly remembered the pictures on the covers and how much the small brunette enjoyed the series, which she always had checked out from the library.

And she received, in return, a lovely painting of a swan that her friend had been working on in art for her. She had told Emma to avoid looking over at her side of the table as if it were the plague. Why she never moved tables, the blonde didn't know, because she caught glimpses of the project as her friend worked.

Which had reminded her, she needed to hang that damned thing up soon, after finding a place in her room for it.

She would deal with that later, since it was so late at night and the banging on the walls would surely alert her parents and the neighbors. Emma would work on the panda painting until she got tired enough to fall asleep, or so she decided, getting up from her bed to retrieve the items she needed to complete her project.

Emma finished it up within two hours, after a few times of nearly falling asleep and taking breaks to wake herself up. She set the paper out to dry on the top of her dresser and moved back over to her mattress after cleaning up the paints and paintbrush, which she had to sneak quietly downstairs to do so.

It had been dark and quiet and she feared that she would wake one of her parents up, that was, until she heard a giggle. And then something that very nearly sounded like a groan that had Emma nearly sprinting back upstairs with a wet paintbrush.

That was one thing she hated about this damned apartment. It was an open floor plan downstairs and her parents' bedroom didn't necessarily have a door, if it was even a bedroom at all. She couldn't count how many times she had walked downstairs to find them doing things that she wished she could erase from her vision and would make her blush in the morning when she saw them.

Shuddering, the blonde made her way back to her bed and collapsed on top of it, trying to erase the horrible, X-rated images from her brain.

"Ugh…" she tossed onto her stomach and flicked the lamp off. Hopefully she would be able to sleep. Oh, gods, did she hope so. And did she hope that they weren't _loud_. She knew that they tried to be quiet, but sometimes they weren't, and it kept Emma up at some odd hours of the night.

After a constant toss and turn and more life-scarring images for more than an hour, Emma had finally huffed and flipped onto her back. She pulled her phone off the nightstand and woke it up to see if she had received any new messages from Regina. The older brunette said she would message her back later. But then again, didn't she say something about doing it when she got away from her mother? Or was that something implied?

With a sigh, Emma sat the small device back down and tossed back onto her side again. She hoped that Regina was alright. She more than likely was. That woman could handle anything, especially her mother, right?

Taking one last attempt, Emma closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep again. Perhaps if she thought of something else, or emptied her mind entirely, she would eventually fall asleep.

 _The world around her started to go dark, fading out as unconsciousness took her under its wing._

But then suddenly she could _breathe_ as air rushed into her lungs. Her vision had cleared up, the black vignette disappearing, soon replaced by little black dots as oxygen made its way to her brain.

Cora had let go, though remained straddling her stomach, her grip still tight on Regina's bruising wrists.

"Are you going to tell me who that woman was, Regina?" Her mother asked once again, this time her voice had taken a couple steps down the aggression ladder.

She had her head cocked to one side as the brunette coughed into the air, unable to cover her mouth as she did so. The large intakes of air had dried her throat out and she could feel the damage that her mother had done, and it hurt like hell.

"I already told you…" she muttered weakly, trying to regain her voice.

"You have told me nothing but lies!"

"Why do you want to know?" Regina spat, glaring at her mother. "Why should I tell you when I know all you're going to do is hunt her down and turn her away from me? Gods forbid I can be happy."

Cora didn't hesitate to slap her. A squeak had involuntarily left Regina's lips and her head snapped to the side with the force of her mother's hand.

"So, you do admit that you have a lover?" She asked, eyes narrowing as she stared into her daughter's eyes, which were gleaming with tears. "This… blonde?"

"Yes! She is." Regina finally hissed. "And that's all you're getting out of me. I… _can't_ …"

"You don't need this woman in your life."

"What right do you have to dictate my life?" The brunette struggled once again against her mother's grip, this time succeeding with one wrist freed. "Just leave me _alone!_ " She used that hand to remove her mother's own from her other arm and pushed the older woman off her and onto the floor with a thump.

Cora remained silent. If looks could kill, Regina would be six feet under, but she didn't care. She felt this _power_ , this sudden adrenaline coursing through her veins. The pressure that had always seemed to weigh her down was lifting and she felt as if she could breathe again.

Regina sat up, stark and proud, her eyes flashing with a sinister appeal. "I want you to leave my house, mother. I am sorry, but I cannot help you with whatever you have planned. I have finally found a happiness that I never had with you."

The brunette leaned against the bed, trying her best to get eye level with her mother who had stared at her in a state of shock. "And when I _do_ have my own children, and _if_ you are even alive, then, _I_ will be having the last laugh."

"You are making a mistake, Regina."

"The only mistake that I have ever made was believing in your _bullshit_." The English teacher watched her mother stand in her spot, then bent to pick up the letter.

"I do hope you know that you will no longer have a mother in your life if you let me walk out that door, Regina." Cora stared at her daughter in an intense moment.

Regina could feel herself breaking in two. She wanted to tell her mother to leave and never show her face again, because that part was so _freeing_ , but there was still a small part of her that wanted her mother there for her. She didn't want her last conversation with her mother to be this awful argument and regret it when she did pass in the future.

"I thought so." Cora murmured, a faint smirk on her lips. "I will utilize the guest bedroom and let you calm down."

"Mother…" It didn't surprise her that she took her silence as an answer. It was just like Cora, she thought, sighing as she hunched over in her spot in defeat. Her ego had deflated now and the surge of confidence was gone.

"I will see you in the morning, dear." Cora closed the distance between she and the bed, her scent overwhelming Regina's senses once again. It was both haunting and beautiful. "I love you." She leaned down and pressed a firm kiss to the top of Regina's head before turning toward the door to leave.

Regina scrubbed her face with her hands when her mother pulled the door behind her and nearly cried out in frustration. Cora would never leave her life, no matter how much she wanted or detested the thought.

She needed a bath. She needed a nice, long, warm bath to calm her nerves. And she also needed to figure out the damage that Cora had done to her. When she had pulled her hands away from her face, she caught sight of the bruising, olive flesh around her wrists where her mother had held her. It only made sense. They were currently throbbing.

Regina sighed once again and slipped from the bed and picked out fresh clothes from her closet before making her way to the en suite bathroom to soak in the tub. This night had felt so long and, even though it was still young, she felt exhausted.

She would go to sleep, she concluded, after she was finished with her soak. That way her mother's visit would be over sooner.


	21. Check Out This Dick

"Regina, darling, it's almost ten. Why are you still asleep?"

Cora's voice shook the brunette from her dreams and she jolted upright in her spot, staring at the intruder. Regina closed her eyes, her heart beating heavily in her chest. She was thankful to be woken from that dream, from that _nightmare_ that had haunted her, but it was her mother's face that nearly had the brunette teacher flying off the bed.

"Mother!" She pushed herself away from the edge of the bed, pillow falling on the floor as the blanket pooled around her waist.

"Why are you still asleep? You should be up, darling. It's Christmas, after all." The older woman swiftly moved to the side of Regina's bed, a smile on her lips as she leaned in. "You should go see what Santa had left you under the tree."

"Mother, you know I don't believe in that man." Regina flipped the covers back and slid out of bed. "And you should know since you had told me that he was nonsense and that your hard-earned money went into the gifts for my selfish ass."

"Don't use such crass language, dear." Cora chastised, linking her arm with her daughter's as she led her out of the room and down the hall. Regina didn't protest and sighed.

The older woman bent down to retrieve a wrapped gift, a medium-sized box, from under the Christmas tree. It wasn't until Regina had noticed the green fir did she realize that they had made it to one of the rooms downstairs where she had set up the tree just weeks prior.

She didn't know why she had even put the thing up. She didn't celebrate Christmas, for she was alone every year and had no need to put up decorations. But it was Emma who had insisted that she utilize the tree in her attic and all the decorations in several marked boxes.

The blonde had spent the next few days helping her set up the tree and decorate the house to make it more festive, and Regina had to admit, it made the large manor feel like an actual home. The Christmas lights twinkling from the doorways and the faint smell of spices made it cozy and had reminded her of the times when she was younger.

"Regina? Would you stop spacing off?!" Cora broke Regina from her thoughts, ripping her back to reality. "You are so _useless_." She hissed, shoving the box that she held into her daughter's arms. "I don't even think you _deserve_ that gift."

"Then why give it to me, mother?" Regina asked monotonously, a blank expression on her face as she glossed over the insult.

"Open the damned thing before I change my mind." Her mother grumbled. Eyes, like molten lava, burned into Regina as she tentatively unwrapped the gift.

When she had managed to open the box, wrapping paper littering the floor (which had earned a few disapproving grunts from her mother), she gasped. Inside was a relic from her childhood; a worn panda bear.

She pulled the bear out, dropping the box on the floor as she murmured, "Mother, I thought you had thrown this out?"

"Unfortunately, I had never got my hands on it before it disappeared on me." Cora sniffed, the smile soon leaving her face as she slipped on her stone mask. "I planned on it, but I thought you already packed it up. It wasn't until I was sorting through the storage room, months ago, that I came across a box full of random items. It was buried underneath a few candleholders."

"It's been so long since I've seen him." Regina looked at the worn bear, faded in color with a few tufts of its fur missing, and smiled. "Thank you, mother. Thank you for not throwing it away."

"It's Christmas, Regina. I am not _that_ heartless." A smirk curled on the older woman's lips, but Regina chose to ignore it. Her mother had done something good and not at all selfish. Or perhaps this was another ploy at trying to win her over onto her side.

Whatever her intentions, Regina was happy to have this memory back in her arms. She had long grown out of stuffed toys, but this little panda held a special place in her heart and she couldn't throw it out. She'd save it, perhaps pass it onto her children – or horde it for herself.

"I still appreciate that you had done this for me." Regina gazed longingly at the yellowed bear, then held it close in one arm as she gazed out the window at the bright, white blankets of snow. "Do you remember when I was a little girl? You held me close by the window as we watched the new snowfall, drinking mugs of hot cocoa… I had the bear then."

"Oh, I know. You never let go of that damned thing after you received it." Cora seemed annoyed with the memory as Regina tried to bask in it, but the flame quickly died at her mother's comment.

"I loved it, mother. You gave it to me." She looked at the panda bear and frowned.

Her mother seemed genuine enough when she had given Regina the bear. The rest of her gifts were clothes and items that she didn't use, things that just sat up in her closet and collected dust because she was too young to understand them. But this bear… Her mother _smiled_ when Regina opened it with a joyful squeal.

She should have known better.

She always gave the brunette things when she wanted something from her. That's how Regina ended up with this house. She wanted her daughter to have a husband, she was sure, and a family to fill it.

"I gave you a lot of things and all I ever saw was you toss them aside, you ungrateful brat." Cora hissed, plucking that bear from Regina's hand. "I don't understand _why_ you loved this _rag_ so much! It's _disgusting_." She enunciated her words, shaking the stuffed panda in front of her daughter's face.

"I… It brought good memories…" Regina murmured softly, her eyes closing. "We went to the zoo once and you showed me the panda bears. Remember how I was so fascinated with them? You let us stay there for longer than the other exhibits, and we went back."

"Is that what _this_ was all about?" She tossed the bear onto the ground, just at Regina's feet. "For some _panda_ exhibit twenty years ago?"

Regina tilted her head slightly up, though quickly lowered it when her mother glowered at her. "I noticed that you bought it… but kept it hidden until Christmastime. It was a very special gift to me."

"Did I not make you happy aside from that trip, Regina?"

"Of course you did, Mother-"

But Cora didn't have it as she hissed. "I was a single mother. I tried everything that I could to make sure that you were happy and satisfied and you always threw it back in my face. You never appreciated anything that I did for you."

"I have _always_ appreciated everything that you have done for me, mother. How can you say that?" Regina opted to defend herself, brows furrowing.

"You do _not._ " Cora drew a hand up and quickly grasped onto Regina's jaw, jerking her head forward. "You say you appreciate me? A daughter who appreciates her mother does not talk back."

"I'm sorry, mama…" Regina remained still, watching her mother through mocha orbs as she roughly released her daughter.

"You sicken me. If you think a pitiful apology will make me forgive you, then you are far more imprudent than I thought." Cora looked absolutely disgusted, eyes eating up her daughter's helpless visage. "I should have known better than to visit you. It wasn't well worth my time. I should have just stayed in New York and not have bothered. Who was I to believe you would be suitable to run my firm when I am gone?"

"I thought you said I didn't-"

"Did I permit you to speak?" Cora hissed, the heated glare that she shot her daughter could have melted the flesh off her face.

When Regina merely sat, and glared, her mother continued. "And yes, I had said that. But I was planning to change my mind and pass it onto you, anyways. Unfortunately, you had just burst your last chance to get your hands on my legacy. And you know what, darling?"

Regina just stared at her mother, subtly shaking her head.

"You just encouraged me to speak with your dear sister, Zelena. Because now, _my love_ , you are no longer a child of mine." The older woman snarled and turned to make her way out of the sitting room. "Now, I have to catch a flight in Boston at five. I was willing to spend the few hours until my departure here with you. Instead, I will spend them with the daughter that I _should_ have kept."

And then she was leaving before the brunette could respond to her mother's words.

Regina bent down to pick up the panda bear from the floor and transferred it to the box that it had been received in. She felt disgusted toward the stuffed toy now. Her mother had pulled the last straw and successfully ruined one of the happier moments of her childhood.

Regina sighed softly and quietly made her way upstairs to her bedroom. She could hear her mother rifle around the guest room as she packed. Why she had ever pulled anything out, Regina wasn't sure, nor did she care. She only kept her feet moving toward the direction of her own bedroom, twisting in the hallways until she reached it.

There, she moved over to her bed and climbed onto it, hand sliding underneath the pillow that she had hid her phone under the night before. She had forgotten to message Emma back before going to bed, but as she looked down at her phone, she noticed that it didn't necessarily matter. The blonde hadn't said anything to her, and it was just before eleven. She was probably busy with her parents.

"I'm leaving, Regina." Cora stopped by the brunette's room, her head poking in to look at her daughter.

"Goodbye, Cora." Regina muttered coldly, not chancing a glance at the woman in the doorway. She heard her grunt before footsteps sounded, fading off as they traveled down the hallway. Moments later, they disappeared altogether with the sound of the front door closing behind them.

The brunette sighed. Her mother was gone.

The brunette curled up in her bed, pulling the blankets over her body. She felt so small. She felt as if she had just lost a piece of herself when her mother had walked out that door. Had she finally angered Cora enough to drive her away from her life for good?

Regina flipped onto her other side, bringing her phone close to her. She should tell Emma that her mother was gone. She had promised that she would. The brunette opened her messages and typed up a quick one to send to her lover.

 _My mother left. You are free to come over whenever you wish._

* * *

"Thanks for letting me do this." Emma smiled at Mary Margaret who had been watching her daughter with a tentative smile.

"You said it was important. Though, I thought you had already given your friends their gifts?" She sat the mug of cocoa down that she had been drinking and leaned across the kitchen table to grab the blonde's hands. "And it's Christmas. I can't deny you a visit to your friends."

"You don't _have_ to let me go. It can wait." Emma reassured the pixie-haired brunette. She knew her mother was hesitant to let her go out on Christmas day, despite it being after their meal and the festivities that followed.

It was about five, now, the day still young. Emma had received a message from Regina earlier declaring that Cora had left. That had been about seven hours ago and the blonde had shot back a message confirming that she had seen it and would make it over when she could.

Emma hadn't bothered to ask her parents to leave the house then. She knew that the day was important to them, starting with opening gifts, basting a turkey that Mary Margaret had put in the oven, and decorating cookies as they waited for the big Christmas dinner to finish.

"No, why don't you go, honey?" Mary Margaret flashed her a soft smile and gave her hands a squeeze. "Just don't stay out too late. Remember that we're going to go out to look at Christmas lights later tonight."

"When do you plan on doing that?" Emma asked.

"Around ten or eleven." The schoolteacher answered. "Just be sure that you're home before then."

"I will. I'll even set an alarm." Emma smiled and, to prove her point, pulled out her phone and quickly did just that.

"Good." She smiled and released the blonde's other hand to cup her mug of cocoa. "Are you sure that you don't want me to drop you off? It's chilly outside."

"No, I'm fine. Thank you." Emma smiled and stood up, stuffing her phone back in her pocket.

"You sure?" David came into the kitchen from the bathroom, his brow quirking. "I heard there's supposed to be a blizzard. Do you want us to pick you up?"

"David's right, sweetie. And if we pick you up, we can just go straight from there."

"No, I'm fine, really." Emma sighed and grabbed her red leather jacket from the back of her chair. She had already donned her boots earlier when she had helped David clear out the walkway and the snow from around his truck. She bent to pick up the painting for Regina, that was now inside a large, black garbage bag as to not get ruined by the harsh elements.

"If you're sure…" He wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders as the two of them watched the blonde head for the door.

"Yes. I am." She didn't want the two of them to pick her up, even if she were to walk to Granny's or one of her friends' houses. There would be too many questions, more than she was willing to answer. She'd rather walk home. Or have Regina drop her off, if the brunette was willing.

"Walk safely…" Mary Margaret warned when Emma pulled open the door. "You really should be wearing more than that."

"I'm fine, Mary Margaret." Emma huffed and closed the door behind her.

She quickly donned her gloves, a large, fluffy scarf and the floppy, black beanie that David had given her earlier that day. Then she set out, hopping down the stairs to the exit. It was going to be an adventure walking, since it had been snowing all day, and the sidewalks were thick with fresh blankets of snow.

Taking a step outside, she brought her arms around her and shivered. Wind instantly greeted her with flakes of snow as they swarmed around her being, instantly melting upon touching her skin.

"Oh, this is definitely going to be fun…" she mumbled, looking around the desolate area.

Absolutely no one was out, and certainly sane enough not to be in this weather. The blizzard that David was talking about might just come if this wind didn't die down. And if it _did_ come, that meant that they couldn't go look at Christmas lights. Added to that, she didn't know if she would be able to return home, even with Regina's help.

It took Emma twenty minutes longer than usual to finally reach Regina's house. She buried her nose in her scarf and pushed the gate open. Soon enough, she was on the brunette teacher's front porch, shaking snow off her boots all the while doing a little dance to keep herself warm from the frigid wind blowing harshly against her body.

Three knocks on the door later and Regina was pulling open the door, whisky eyes wide.

"Emma? What are you doing here?" she asked, pulling the blonde into the warm foyer and closing the front door behind them. Regina quickly wrapped her arms around the blonde, trying her best to warm the teenager up.

"I wanted to visit you." She muttered weakly. "And give you your Christmas present."

"Oh, Emma, you didn't have to come today. It's terrible outside." The brunette tugged Emma's jacket off and lead her to the sitting room where the two of them had set up the Christmas tree earlier that month.

The blonde smiled upon seeing it. It was lit up, now, and stood tall with dazzling Christmas lights flashing a show of greens, reds, and whites. Underneath the tree lay a single box, wrapped in shiny, red paper with a green bow on top. The curve of her lips grew.

She was sat down on the cream-colored couch with a fleece blanket immediately draped around her. Regina occupied the spot next to her, arms still trying to warm her up enough to keep her body from shaking. They sat quietly like that for some time as the blonde drank up the room.

Upon further inspection, she noticed that the fireplace was lit and crackled. On the coffee table was a steaming mug, half full of what appeared to be coffee, and a small platter of cookies. After she had finally regulated her breathing, she could hear the faint melody of holiday music playing in the distance.

"Are you warm, Emma?" Regina's soft voice inquired, the arms that Emma had only noticed to be around her squeezed.

"Yeah, thanks…" She turned emerald eyes on the brunette's face and smiled sheepishly. "I know I probably should have waited, but I didn't really want to. I wanted to give you your gift on time. On Christmas."

"My gift? Now, Emma, you didn't have to get me anything…"

"I didn't." The blonde smiled and bent forward to grab the black bag from the floor. She handed it over to Regina. "I made you something."

"You made me something?" The look on the older woman's face could melt Emma's heart.

There was a twinkle in her eyes and a slow, melting smile on her pink lips as she opened the bag up carefully, soon retrieving the frame from within. Then she gasped as she saw the painting, eyes shimmering. "Oh, Emma!"

"You like pandas, right?" The blonde nudged her tenderly, her tone light and playful.

"I-it's beautiful." Regina lifted her gaze, the painting still held out in front of her. "I love it. I love pandas. I…"

"So, you like it?" Emma smiled. But she was taken by surprise when the brunette leaned forward and gave her lips a chaste kiss instead of an answer.

"I will be sure to hang this up in my bedroom."

"Oh, it's not _that_ good, but thanks for the compliment." Emma gave her lover a cheeky grin. She felt content, now, being here with Regina.

"You will always be the number one artist in my book." Regina smiled, nuzzling close to the blonde. She carefully set the painting down on the floor, propping it up against the coffee table so she would have a full view of it.

Regina hummed happily before suddenly pushing herself away from the blonde. Emma glanced up at her, eyes wide as the brunette made her way over to the Christmas tree. Emma didn't move from her spot, instead flipped around and watched as the teacher bent over.

The curve of her bum was outlined by the black slacks that she wore and gave Emma the need to roll her tongue back up into her mouth. She shouldn't be caught _gawking_ , that was _rude_. Indeed, but that ass was just _criminal_.

Though, the show was soon enough interrupted when Regina stood and spun around, the package from under the tree in her hands. She wore a soft smile and a devious twinkle in her eyes.

"I could feel you staring at my ass." She hummed, moving to join Emma on the couch once again. "I _always_ know when someone is checking me out, dear."

"You… can?"

"Yes. Call it a superpower, if you must." The teasing smirk on her face was the only thing that set the blonde off knowing that she wasn't serious.

"Uh _huh_ …" Emma cocked her head back and stared at the brunette for a moment.

"Open your present." Regina plopped the box onto Emma's lap, an anxious smile curling onto her lips. She looked _cocky_. What was in this thing?

Emma picked up the box and tentatively began to rip open the paper, earning a few impatient clacks from Regina as she did so. Eventually she had the paper off and at her feet to only stare blankly at a box, brown and plain.

"Box?"

"That's all you get. A box." Regina nodded simply.

Emma gave her a wry look. "I'll cherish it forever."

"Open the damn box." The brunette groused and urged the blonde to peel the tape off the edges.

When all was said and done, Emma had the box opened to reveal the treasure that waited inside. Or, the item that had her jaw hitting her lap.

"You put a legitimate _dick_ in a _box_?" She squawked, but the curve of her lips gave her away.

Inside she was _screaming_. This would have probably been the best Christmas gift she had ever received, even if it were a gag one. Regina had a dirty sense of humor and she _loved_ it.

"Not a _dick_." Regina sniffed and pulled the phallus out.

"It's a fake dick, it still counts." Emma eyed the deep purple object with interest. "Is it one of yours?"

"No." A smirk cured the brunette's lips into something sinister. "It's _yours_."

"Mine?" Emma blinked at the object in her lover's hand, which had soon been given to her. She ran her fingers over the phallic thing, blatantly ignoring the snickers Regina gave.

"Yes. It's brand new. All I did was take it out of the package because I knew how you'd react." The brunette watched her, eyes darker than they had been before. Emma looked up, swallowing thickly.

"And here I thought you were going to give me something sweet."

"How about something _spicy_ , instead?" Regina smirked and ducked forward to press a kiss to the blonde's cheek. "I have something special to go with that."

"What?" Emma found the word spilling out of her mouth before she could stop it and Regina giggled.

"You'll just have to wait and see." The older woman withdrew from Emma's personal space and stood up once again, picking up the discarded wrapping paper as she did.

"Where are you going?" The blonde frowned and sat the phallus on the couch before popping up as well, following the brunette who hadn't answered her out of the sitting room.

Silently, the two of them made their way across the house until Emma had found herself in the kitchen. Regina stopped by the refrigerator and opened it, dark eyes sweeping over the contents inside. Emma came up behind her, wrapping her arms around the older woman's waist and rested her chin on her shoulder.

"What're you lookin' for?" She asked, green eyes focusing on the various beverages and food products inside. Then she spotted _it_. A carton of eggnog sitting on the top shelf.

"This," the brunette replied, retrieving that very carton, her other arm snaking around the two that were still coiled around her. She kicked the door closed and made her way to the cupboard with the glasses, Emma holding onto her for the ride.

"Yummy." The blonde licked her lips. "You do not understand my love for that stuff."

"And what might it be? This… love of yours?" Regina busied herself with pouring two generous glasses of the nog as she awaited an answer.

Emma hummed softly and kept a cheek pressed against Regina's shoulder as she held her, getting lost in the warmth and each breath that she took.

"Let's just say that it's runner up to your forbidden fruit." The blonde winked and pressed a kiss to the brunette's shoulder.

"Oh?" Regina's voice was breathless.

The younger woman nodded against her shoulder. "Yup! You're my favorite flavor. You even beat out eggnog. And I've loved that stuff since I was a kid."

"Well, now do I feel ever important?" She chirped, turning around in the blonde's arms to wrap her own around Emma's neck. Regina's mouth lowered onto her lover's, giving the blonde a taste of her sweet, full lips.

Emma sighed softly against her mouth until they pulled away, though it was only for a heartbeat before the two of them had crashed against one another again like tidal waves.

Oh, how much had Emma missed Regina's lips on hers? They were soft and inviting and tasted of sweet coffee.

It was unexpected to be kissed so suddenly, but that was the thrill in life that Emma had wanted. It was something she hadn't known until she spent enough time away from the brunette and it was frightening how much she had missed her.

Everywhere she went, she swore she could smell the faint, spicy scent of the teacher's perfume, or the whiff of apples when she walked by from the shampoo that she used. She found herself yearning for the brunette's touch and her warm, soft body holding her in remarkably strong arms.

And she was so glad now to be in them again. To taste Regina's sweet lips on her own in their fiery kiss that had left them breathless, yet yearning for more. And so, they had dived forward once again, lips colliding and meshing together in a passionate tango.

Regina nibbled on the blonde's lower lip, earning a soft whimper from Emma as she pressed her frame closer to her lover's, a hand sliding up into raven tendrils to tug and pull. The brunette moaned softly and slid her tongue against Emma's lips before thrusting it full into her mouth, invading it as she tasted and explored.

Emma hissed pleasurably, playfully wrestling her girlfriend's tongue out of her mouth and back into her own. A smirk grew on her face from her success, though it was short-lived when Regina battled for dominance, pushing Emma from her mouth.

"I want you." She growled, spinning the blonde around to slam against the counter. Emma winced when the action had caused one of the glasses to spill over and the soft _drip drip drip_ sounded as it hit the floor.

" _Shit_." Regina moved her blonde girlfriend aside and quickly set the glass upright as Emma, herself, had quickly gathered up enough paper towels to stuff an elephant.

"Here, I got this…" Emma mumbled, wiping up what had spilled on the counter, then soon moved to clean up the small puddle on the floor. She watched on sadly as the eggnog was soaked into the paper towels.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…" Regina shook her head and sighed, refilling the glass of nog that had spilled.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I mean, yeah, that could have been my belly instead of the floor… but…" The blonde teased and leaned up to kiss Regina's cheek.

"Emma!" The brunette swatted her arm in a reprimanding manner.

"I like eggnog." Emma mumbled, turning the older woman around with a gentle smile on her lips. She lightly trailed kissed up the older woman's jaw, then down to the fabric of her turtleneck sweater, which had shifted after she had moved.

That's when she saw something that looked a little off to her and frowned.

"You have something on your neck." Emma murmured, pulling away from her.

Her emerald eyes had landed on a discoloration that made its presence known on the older woman's olive flesh. She hadn't spotted it earlier, and the blonde had already concluded why that was. Regina had her hair down, covering most of her skin, and had donned a deep red turtleneck sweater.

The neck of the sweater had shifted during their kiss, she assumed, or when she had cleaned up the eggnog, which had ultimately revealed the top of whatever the brunette had hidden there. It looked purplish in color and had a nasty hue to it. If Emma didn't know any better, she would have guessed it to be a bruise.

"What?" Regina quickly tugged the neck of her sweater up as if Emma hadn't said anything regarding the skin underneath.

"You have something…" Emma trailed off as she tugged the neck back down to peek at whatever was there. Perhaps it was a makeup malfunction, or so Emma had told herself, because deep down, she knew what it really was and feared that it just might be true.

And when she _had_ tugged the fabric from Regina's neck, she gasped. The teacher only dropped her arms, her chestnut gaze averted as emerald examined her bruised flesh. She looked almost ashamed as Emma continued to take a closer look at the small, purple spots. They looked like fingerprints the more she stared at them, then the harsh reality struck her.

"Did your mother do this?" Emma whispered, a tentative hand raising to lightly grace her pale digits over the marks. The brunette winced, but didn't pull back, nor did she answer, but that was enough for the blonde to understand.

"She will never stop." Regina finally spoke with a crack in her voice.

"Gina…" Emma frowned even more this time and pulled her hands away, letting them fall to the hem of her sweater.

"I can't believe that I let her do that to me. _Again_." The brunette watched Emma, eyes slightly wide and panicked as the blonde lifted the red material. She almost stopped her ministration if not for the trusting look that crossed over Regina's features.

"How bad did she hurt you?" Emma whispered, sliding the sweater up and over Regina's head when the older woman lifted her arms.

Regina wore a plain, white T-shirt under that sweater and nothing else. Not even a brassiere, as Emma had soon learned when she saw the older woman's dark, hardened nipples press against the almost see-through material.

She bit her lip, trying to keep her body sated from excitement as she thought just what she might do with those sweat mounds. With a brief close of her eyes to shake those thoughts, she reopened them to roam over the rest of Regina.

That's when Emma had noticed the bruises on Regina's wrists as the brunette had lowered her hands finally from the position they had been in. They weren't hard to miss, contrasting greatly from the brunette's otherwise flawless, tawny skin.

Emma scooped one of her hands up and examined the slender wrist that was colored as if it were more damaged than let on, but when she had skated her fingertips across the discolored skin, Regina didn't seem to have any noticeable reaction.

Emma could only imagine the horrors that went on in the house these past couple of days. What had Regina endured? What the hell had Cora done to her? Any _why?_

"Don't worry about it." Regina mumbled softly. "I'm perfectly fine. She's gone and these are only… they will heal."

"She hurt you…" Emma lifted Regina's wrist to her mouth and kissed along the contours of her bones. For each mark, she feathered tender kisses, and for each kiss, Regina's breath shortened. "I wish I was here to protect you."

"You wouldn't want to do that. She may be small, but she's strong." Regina shook her head; her eyes ice cold as she stared off into the distance as if in memory. But, soon enough, it was gone and she had brought herself back, lifting Emma's knuckles to her mouth to give them a few tender kisses.

"It's over. Don't worry about the past. Just focus on the present."

"And currently, you're hurt. Let me do something to help you." The blonde lifted her gaze to meet with chestnut, eyes shimmering with tears unknown. "And it's Christmas."

"That is correct and we must finish our eggnog… Or get a start on it before the night gets any older."

"I won't let it go that easily, Gina." Emma slipped her hand into Regina's, the other snatching up her glass of eggnog before they made their way back into the sitting room.

The two of them made their way over to the cream couch and sat, thigh squished against thigh as their connected hands sat on top of them.

It was Regina to break their relaxed silence with a cough. "My mother gave me a gift."

"She did?" Emma blinked.

"More like returning something to me, but…" Regina set her glass down and bent forward, not releasing her grip, as she rifled through a box on the floor. Moments later, she sat upright with a small, plush bear in her hand.

Upon obvious inspection, it was a worn-out panda bear and she would have passed it off for a dog toy if not for the loving way Regina looked at that rag.

"She got it for me at the zoo when we visited it and I had just adored the pandas there. Later on that year, she gifted this to me for Christmas. That was also the year that she had sat with me by the window and watched as the snow fell while we drank hot cocoa together." Regina sighed softly and gazed longingly at the stuffed animal. "That was one of the most vivid memories I have of my mother without her chasing after me with a broom."

"Why didn't you already have it?" Emma asked, curling against the older woman's side when she had wrapped the arm that hadn't been holding the stuffed panda around her shoulders.

"I thought she had thrown it out ages ago. But, as it turns out, she hadn't." Regina set the panda plush back into the box, a look flickering across her face briefly as she had.

"It's a snowy day out, huh?"

The teacher chuckled, nodding her head in response. "Indeed, it is. It's quite beautiful, is it not?"

"Yeah." Emma gazed out the window that she had noticed to be free of its usual curtains.

"Much like a certain somebody that I know." Regina's comment had the blonde's head craning, meeting up with eyes that reminded her of warm coffee; seeping into her veins and warming her soul.

Her cheeks tingled as they warmed with pleasant modesty, her pale fingers curling around the slender, olive wrist on her shoulder.

Regina's eyes immediately sharpened, pointed on the pale hand. Her tongue slid across her lips, wetting them before she spoke again. "But not nearly as _hot_."

"I'd hate to think snow would be hot. We'd be drowning in lava if that was true." Emma smirked when Regina regarded her oddly, but quickly recovered.

"Indeed," she purred, leaning forward until they were a breadth apart.

Emma's pulse quickened, her breath wisping against the older woman's skin. Green eyes searched brown.

"I've missed you." Regina whispered, a tender, tawny finger brushed against the golden-haired teen's porcelain cheek.

Emma's breath hitched from the sweet caress and her eyes fluttered as she tried to regain that breath. "I've missed you, too."

"It's been lonely lately in this big house." She continued, her finger soon multiplying to two as she continued her ministrations. "And quite _frustrating_."

"Frustrating?"

"Sexually."

Emma puffed out her lower lip. "Is that all that you have missed me for?"

Regina ceased her movements and quickly retracted her hand with a wounded look. "No. Of course not… Your presence is what I yearn for, not your body."

"I was only teasing." The blonde retrieved the hand she had pulled away and pressed a kiss to the veiny surface.

"I do not want you just for…"

"Neither do I with you, but it's a part of nature to want it and act on it."

"I do know that." Regina's voice was breathless as Emma continued with her soft kisses, lips trailing down the back of the brunette's hand to the dark circles on her dainty wrist.

A soft sigh of bliss slipped from her lips.

"Do you want to act on it?" Regina whispered, her husky voice sending heat straight to Emma's core.

"I have to leave by nine-thirty." The blonde breathed, deep forest eyes lifting to meet the devious lilt of blood-red lips.

"Plenty of time." Regina pulled the blonde onto her lap, forcing Emma to straddle her. She captured the younger woman's lips in a searing kiss that tickled Emma in the most pleasant of ways. Her toes curled as she marveled in the heady gesture, a soft groan slipping from her lips.

"I have missed you so much…" Regina's tone was naught but pure sex as she hoisted the blonde further onto her lap, her hands cupping Emma's rump. "I haven't had an orgasm since the last time we made love."

Oh, _gods_ , she was starting to talk dirty again. Regina always loved to do that, and for some reason, Emma just _loved_ hearing it. She could feel heat pooling in her lower belly and her panties growing damper with each husky word that left that woman's mouth.

"I tried to get myself off." The older woman elaborated between hot, wet kisses to Emma's pale jaw. Her hands had already moved to make haste with removing the blonde's top, tossing the T-shirt aside to move to the black bra.

Emma bit her lip, head thrusting back when those enticing hands moved against her heated flesh, cupping her aching breasts, and giving them squeezes that had her squirming and begging for more. "Did you think of me?"

"Yes, it was the very thought of you that had stirred me." Regina breathed, one hand sliding underneath the fabric of Emma's bra to cup the round globe of flesh. Emma moaned.

"What happened?" The blonde asked, her hips slowly rocked in time with each caress that Regina gave her breasts. _Oh, gods_ , she could just come with Regina's description, she was sure. The thought of her lying in bed touching herself had every cell in Emma's body humming with excitement because she had witnessed it before.

She had waited as long as Regina for this. She hadn't had the time to really relieve herself of any midnight tingles, and being surrounded by her friends most of the time didn't help with the matter.

"I was bathing." Regina slid a hand down Emma's pale, flat tummy, causing her muscles to twitch anxiously underneath the olive hand. The brunette must have felt that, for the most delicious smirk spread across her lips.

The hand lowered and continued until it reached the hem of Emma's jeans, but didn't stop there as it continued to fly further south and cupped the blonde's aching sex through her jeans.

" _Oh…_ " Emma hummed, grinding herself greedily against that hand. She needed to be touched and her throbbing center was not being helped by the thick material in the way. "More," she begged, hoping for at least some pressure to relieve her.

"Oh, but I haven't told you of my adventures…" Regina feigned a pout at her girlfriend's demand and kept her hand just where it was, not at all moving, even as Emma seemed to desperately grind herself against it.

"I can picture you in the shower… touching yourself…" Emma met Regina's eyes, locking in on them with a grin.

"I was in the tub." The brunette mended and added pressure to the aching flesh between her lover's legs. She pressed her fingers against the denim and rubbed, _back and forth, back and forth..._

Emma braced herself on the back of the couch, eyes squeezing as she moved hips in time with Regina's hand. "Oh, Gina…" she gasped, teeth clenched. "T-tell me about it."

"I dipped a hand into the hot, steaming bathwater to slip between my thighs." Regina growled into Emma's ear, leaning forward to nibble on the lobe as her thumb teased the tight nipple that prodded her hand. Emma hissed in pleasure, head bowing as she continued to move with Regina's pace.

The blonde bit her lip, fingers digging into the fabric of the couch. "What else? Where did you touch yourself?"

"I thought of you, my love, as I pleased my throbbing clitoris." Regina's hand soon stopped its ministrations between the blonde's thighs and before she could protest, olive fingers slid to the waistband of her jeans. Then they disappeared underneath it and Emma gasped.

Regina's fingers had pressed against her sweet, aching flesh as they wormed their way down, slipping further towards the wet folds that awaited her. The blonde's breath hitched when those slender fingers found the center of her excitement. Her hips bucked forward against the hand and her head thrust back as a soft moan left her lips.

" _Oh, Gina, yes…"_ she groaned, rocking her hips against the fingers that drew tight circles around her clit.

"I did just this," Regina continued, eyes dark, almost black, when Emma had met their gaze.

"And then what?" Emma shuddered pleasantly when the brunette slid two digits along the slick flesh, delving between the lips to bury deep inside of her. " _Gina!_ " The blonde gasped and ground herself down into those fingers, her bottom pressing firmly against Regina's knees.

"And then I did that, with my other hand." Regina purred, plump lips trailing sensually down the blonde's exposed throat. "I had my legs on either side of the tub."

"Oh, hot…" She whimpered when Regina's hot mouth had found her breast, the hand that had been there previously now had pushed the fabric completely aside to expose her naked flesh.

Emma felt as if she were already about to just _explode_. She could feel her peak riding up on her and fast, for she had sped up her wanton movements, arching against the brunette's mouth when she chose that moment to tease her erect nipple between her teeth.

One of the lighter woman's hands found the back of Regina's head as she pressed her breast further against her, moaning and squirming when the brunette hadn't relented with the delicious nibbles and sucks.

" _Sh-shit_ , Gina!" Emma cried, pressing herself against the vigorously pumping fingers. She almost couldn't take it.

"Nuh-uh-uh…" Regina pulled away from her breast, now red from her attention, and licked her lips. "My story isn't over."

The blonde scrunched her face. She was close. _Just a little more…_ " _Hng_ , please! Tell me!"

"And just as I was about to orgasm," she continued, a seductive look on her face. The digits buried within her girlfriend had withdrawn themselves to torture the swollen nub. Emma braced herself, her body tensing as she felt her release coming, her hips frantic in their fruitless attempt to find release.

"My mother knocked." And with those three words, Emma had come undone, hot and hard against her lover's hand. Her entire body tensed and shuddered after waves of pleasure washed over her, leaving her to smile at the sweet feeling of release.

Regina smiled as well, pulling her hand from the blonde's jeans as she came down from her high. Those digits were soon popped into the brunette's mouth as she sucked her girlfriend's juices from them, all the while watching said girlfriend stare at her with sated, green eyes.

A soft pink tinted Emma's cheeks as she watched Regina clean up the aftermath of her orgasm. She always loved to do that, looking like the cat that had caught the canary.

The blonde heaved a contented sigh, slumping against Regina who had wrapped her arms tightly around her small frame, her chest rising and falling at a more-than-steady pace.

"Wait…" Emma popped her head up and looked at Regina. "You said your… mother knocked? Right in the middle of…?"

"Yes." The brunette simply nodded, a displeased look on her face. "Unfortunately, I never found my release after she had gotten her damned towel. She is a major lady-boner killer."

"Lady-boner?" Emma bubbled with laughter, her head resting back onto her lover's shoulder.

"Yes." Regina nodded again.

"Well, aren't you cool?"

"I wouldn't be talking, Emma." She quirked a brow at the blonde. "I just gave you an orgasm."

"Very true…" Emma huffed and pressed a kiss against Regina's bruised neck. "And now it's my turn to give you your well-deserved, no-motherly-interruption orgasm."

Regina quirked a brow at her, but Emma didn't pay any mind as she continued to press soft kisses against the fingerprints on her olive flesh.

"My poor Gina…" she whispered, laving her tongue along the column of her throat, smirking when she felt the older woman shudder with pleasure underneath her. "I will take care of you."

"Oh, you definitely will…" Regina purred, closing her eyes as she basked in the sweet kisses that Emma gave her neck.

The blonde shifted in her lap, using her tongue to lick at the bruises as a dog would wounds. It was in her own efforts to pretend that they were nothing but dirt smudges and she was removing them with her tongue, though when they remained, she only seemed to try harder.

It wasn't until she felt a set of hands grab her hips did she stop to look up. Regina had pulled away, one of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows quirked in her question.

"Are you just going to tend to my neck all day, darling? There are far more… tender areas for you to explore…" She smirked, eyes dropping momentarily to the place that Emma had covered as she continued to sit on her lap.

"Demanding." Emma _tsked_ and carried on with the tender kisses on Regina's neck, though it was that time she noticed the small wince that the older woman had given. With a frown, she decided to change direction and let her lips drop down to the brunette's breastbone, covered by the white cotton of her shirt. She pursued south, anyways, moving towards one of those breasts that remained perky and alert.

Smirking to herself, she dropped a kiss to the swell of flesh through the fabric before wrapping her lips around one of those taunting nipples, flush with arousal.

"Emma…" The name rolled off Regina's tongue breathlessly, both her hands curling into golden locks of hair as the blonde suckled her through the cotton. The brunette arched against Emma's mouth, the sultry moans growing louder the damper her shirt had become.

Then, suddenly, Emma pushed the T-shirt up and reattached her mouth, suckling voraciously at the pebbled peak that seemed so ready to greet her.

Regina hummed, words dying in her throat. Her back arched almost criminally forward, thrusting her tender breasts against her lover's face as each had been pleasure the same, being nipped, sucked, and teased.

" _Em…Emma…_ " Regina choked, tugging hard at the blonde's hair, forcing her head away from her breasts. "Please… I-I need you."

The blonde nodded and pressed a single kiss to her lover's stomach before fumbling with the older woman's slacks. Regina lifted her hips, allowing Emma to push the nuisances down and completely off. She tossed them next to her shirt before climbing down off Regina's lap completely to find solace on the floor.

She grabbed Regina's knees and pushed them apart, a satisfied smirk on her face as the older woman gasped. Emma waddled between her legs and looked up at the brunette.

Regina watched her with lustful eyes, her chest heaving and her shirt still pulled up above her breasts. Emma locked eyes with her for a moment, smiling when she did before guiding her attention back down to gaze at the black, satin fabric that hid her lover's forbidden area.

The blonde ducked her head down to press a kiss to the outside of Regina's soft, sun-kissed thigh. A sigh of bliss left the brunette's lips as she had done this, and when she did it again, this time on the inner part of her thigh, it had earned her a sharper gasp. Emma continued teasing Regina, kissing the insides of both her thighs, slowly making her way to the center of her arousal. She could already smell Regina thick around her, which had shot heat straight to her core once again.

Moaning to herself, she trailed her tongue the rest of the way of Regina's innermost thigh to the damp cloth that covered the part she had desired to please. Emma locked gazes with Regina as she slowly bent forward to press her lips firmly to the center of the black panties. Regina gasped sharply, her body tensing.

" _Please…_ " The brunette teacher pleaded, her fingers teasing one of her own breasts as she watched the blonde smirk at her.

Then Emma dove forward once again, though not in the direction of her center, but to one of her hips. She grabbed the side of the panties with her teeth and drug it down, trying to act inconspicuous as she used two finger to pry the other side down as well. Regina didn't seem to notice as she kept her heated, coffee eyes on Emma.

"I could just _come_ right now with you doing that…" Regina rumbled, which had Emma stopping halfway down her thigh. She smirked around the panties and pursued pulling them down until they fell around the brunette's ankles on their own. Regina took the liberty to kick them off as Emma moved back between her legs once again, inhaling deeply the scent of her aroused lover.

" _You smell so sweet_."

"I taste sweet, too…" Regina teased, the sparkle in her eye could drive Emma mad.

The blonde lifted each other the brunette's perfect, olive legs onto her shoulders and dove forward, burying her face between Regina's thighs with great bravado. Her hands had found purchase on the brunette's lower back as she pressed the teacher's lower half against her face, her tongue sliding slowly against the secret lips to get a starting taste.

Emma closed her eyes, enjoying everything that invaded her senses as Regina. She could feel the older woman already move her hips against her face, moaning her name into the air. A smile seemed to curve her lips at the sound. She always loved the noises that Regina made when she had pleased her.

The blonde hummed, pressing her nose against Regina's clit as she extended her tongue to tease the older woman's entrance. She could hear the brunette whimper above her, pleading for more. And thus, Emma abided, pushing her tongue between the soaked folds, groaning in time with Regina as her absolute flavor exploded on the young woman's taste buds.

" _Fuck, Emma. More!_ " She could hear Regina chant above her, sharp cries echoing in the room as the blonde tried so hard to abide her request, her tongue darting in and out of her entrance before changing position to flick aggressively at her swollen clit.

Regina's hips jerked forward when she had done so, another sharp cry sounding. Her fingers had found themselves tangled in Emma's honey curls, tugging every so often, though she could feel the pressure that Regina exerted to keep her where she was. It was all very exciting for Emma, herself, and she could already feel her own arousal roar to life once again. The ache between her thighs encouraged her to relieve the one between her lover's.

She quickly pulled away to blindly reach for the box that had been left abandoned on the couch and soon retrieved the item held within it. The brunette gazed down at her, the corners of her lips twitching despite the displeasure of the break. Though, Emma hadn't hesitated to return to her previous placement as she teased the pink pearl with her teeth, the toy that she now had positioning at her lover's entrance. Slowly, she slid the phallic device into Regina, earning a sharp moan as it filled her and forced the older woman over the edge.

" _E-Emma!"_ Regina's final cry sounded as her body shook with spasms, her hips jerking unusually as Emma helped her ride out the orgasm, swirling her tongue around the nub and moving the toy within her until the brunette had finally gone limp; her breathing hard and uneven.

The blonde smirked and lapped up the remains of the brunette's release, nipping at the tender folds every so often before pulling away, licking her lips, and toy in hand. Regina regarded her with flushed cheeks and satisfied eyes, the lust had faded, but she could see traces of it.

Emma slid her hands up the brunette's tawny thighs, the only noise in the room now was the faint Christmas music playing in the background. Emma could laugh.

"Merry Christmas, Gina," she purred, climbing back onto the couch next to her brunette lover. Regina immediately leaned against her, arms wrapped snuggly around her body.

"Merry Christmas, Emma." She smiled in return, pressing a kiss to the side of Emma's head.

* * *

"We completely forgot about the eggnog." Emma muttered, her head resting against Regina's breast as the two of them lay on the couch. She was semi on top of her, a sated smile on her lips. She was completely and utterly spent. And somehow, she had lost her clothes somewhere between round one and round…

 _What round was that last one again?_

The two of them had gone for a second round shortly after the first, this time it was Emma's idea to use her new Christmas gift on Regina for a second time. She was sure they were loud enough for the neighbors to hear.

That's why she wore such a large smile now, probably looking naught but goofy with it spread so widely across her face. They had tested that thing out several times and had lost track of time between each round as they occasionally had a snack of cheese and meat.

But the eggnog that Emma had pointed out had been completely neglected and she felt _awful_.

"Indeed, we have." Regina chuckled, her sweat-slick skin moving easily against the blonde's as it had rumbled with laughter. "Perhaps we should try to drink it now?"

"Yeah…" Emma concurred, reaching from her spot to the glass that was designated hers. Unfortunately, she was unable to reach and was left hanging. "Oh, well…"

Regina chuckled again, this time sitting up as she did so. Emma let out a complaint, every muscle in her body protesting when the brunette had set her aside to grab both glasses. She handed Emma one, keeping the other for herself as she moved into a more comfortable position, propped up against the arm of the couch. Emma had found her way nestled between the older woman's legs, a content smile on her lips as she leaned back into the warm body.

"I love eggnog." She mewled, taking a sip of the thick beverage. A happy sigh sang a chorus in her body as she took that swallow. She had been waiting all day for this.

"I do, as well." Regina nodded, her fingers combing through Emma's mussed hair as she, too, drank from her glass. "Really wonderful stuff."

"Yup." Emma giggled and relaxed further back into Regina. She sighed contentedly again, her eyes closing as the holiday music filled her ears. "I like this."

"I do, too. It's nice, laying here with you." The brunette's hoarse voice spoke, a hand sliding down Emma's side. The blonde giggled and squirmed away from the hand.

"Don't. I'm too tired." She whined playfully. "You completely wore me out."

"That's what I do, honey." Regina laughed, melodic and sweet.

"How long have we been going at it?" Emma asked, craning her neck to look at her girlfriend. The brunette shrugged.

"I lost track of time."

Suddenly a soft beep had sounded from somewhere in the pile of clothes on the floor. Emma sat up abruptly, accidentally knocking into Regina's glass of eggnog, which had ultimately spilled some onto her as it swashed over the sides.

"Sorry!" Emma quickly sat her glass down and rifled through the clothes until she found her jeans, then pulled out her phone that had been the source of noise.

"What is that, darling?" Regina asked from the couch, using a finger to dab up what had spilt on her.

"My alarm. It's nine-thirty." Emma muttered solemnly, replacing her phone and standing up. She searched through the clothes once again and found her panties to slip on. "I have to go."

"Where exactly are you going again?" The brunette sat up in her spot, the glass of eggnog finding its way onto the table.

"I'm supposed to go out with Mary Margaret and David to look at Christmas lights. It's a traditional thing. I don't know. But I promised them I'd go." Emma hastily found and donned the rest of her clothes, as well as her boots and red leather jacket. "So, I gotta go now if I want to make it home by ten."

"Why don't you let me drive you? It's freezing out, dear." Regina stood from the couch and picked up her discarded panties. She, too, slipped them on and found the rest of her clothes. "I don't want you freezing your perfect little tush off out there."

"Thanks…" Emma sighed softly and grabbed her eggnog as she waited for her girlfriend to finish dressing. That at least gave her enough time to finish her eggnog. Though, they'd still probably have to leave soon since she was sure that the streets were still covered in snow.

"Anything for you, Emma." Regina walked over to her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'll go grab a pair of boots and then I'll be down, alright? You can start the Benz if you want. My keys are in the foyer."

"Alright." The blonde watched as the older woman sashayed off to do as she had said. Emma sat for a moment, finishing up her eggnog before standing. She gathered her gift with a blush, unsure of what she should really do with it. If she brought it home, would her parents ask what was in the box? She could always stick it in her pocket… If it would fit, but that was highly unlikely.

Oh, great. She had a dildo and she didn't know what the hell to do with the damned thing. Why the hell did Regina have to get her _that?_

Sighing with defeat, she stuck it back in the box and headed out of the room to the foyer. She searched around a great deal, not exactly knowing where the hell Regina meant she put her keys. Normally she kept them in her purse, only sometimes did she have them out here, but Emma never paid enough attention to know where she stuck the damned things.

It took Emma five whole minutes until she finally found them hanging on a little hook by the door. Who the hell saw that?

"I've always had it there, dear." Regina's voice startled her and she turned around to be met with an amused smile.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to know that you aren't as educated on my house as you thought." The brunette gave her a wry smile before heading towards the door. Emma followed suit and trailed after her like a puppy as she made her way into the snowy hell called winter.

The blonde grumbled under her breath at the amount of snow on the ground. At least it had stopped snowing, which was lucky for the Nolans' Christmas Light Watch. Part of her had wished that the blizzard had kept its promise to intensify, because right now she would still be inside that house with Regina.

Nice and warm.

Emma shivered as a sharp gust of cold wind blew her towards the Benz where Regina was already inside, starting it up before she popped back out with an ice scraper.

"I hate winter." Emma muttered as she stood next to her girlfriend, who was trying as fast as she could to clear the snow off with chattering teeth.

"I concur, dear."

"It sucks." The blonde used her gloved hands to help Regina out by dusting snow off the windows, which, unfortunately, wasn't all there was. "Damn."

"Tell me about it." Regina muttered, scraping vigorously at the ice on the windshield. "Why don't you get in?"

"If one of us is gonna suffer, why not both?" The blonde shrugged.

"Suit yourself." Though the smile on Regina's face was enough to tell Emma how much she really appreciated it.

It took them only a few minutes before Regina had declared it clear enough to see out of and retreated to the car. Emma got in as well, groaning happily at the warmth. One good thing about standing out there was the warm car that you would be welcomed to.

"Heaters are a beautiful thing." Regina hummed and shifted the car into gear. She began to back up, only to get halfway to the street before they got stuck. And then she sighed in defeat, her head lowering. "I completely forgot about shoveling the driveway."

"Let me do that." Emma quickly got out and found the snow shovel propped against the front porch. Some minutes later, she cleared what she thought was sufficient and got back into the car, shivering.

"It's so _cold_." She complained, rocking back and forth to get warmth into her body. Regina gazed at her sympathetically before leaning toward her to give her cheek a quick peck.

"Thank you, though." The brunette shot her a grateful grin.

"You're welcome." The blonde returned the smile.

"Now, it's time to get on the road and hopefully not get stuck." Regina pulled onto the road and began to drive down the quiet street.

"Isn't it always a wonder how _bright_ it is with all this snow, even though it's night?" Emma cocked her head towards Regina. "That's one of the only things I like about snow."

"It is amazing, isn't it?" The brunette sighed softly, an absentminded smile on her lips as she gazed at the street ahead.

"Yeah." Emma nodded and looked outside as well as they drove the snowy streets of Storybrooke. She had been so lost in the snowy banks, she hadn't noticed that they had arrived to her loft. It felt like it had only been a minute, and she wished it would have been longer.

"Ah, well." She looked at Regina, her entire body turning. "I guess this is my stop."

"I'll talk to you later?" Regina tilted her head slightly, a warm smile on her lips.

Emma nodded. "Yeah."

"Alright." The brunette leaned forward and captured Emma's lips with her own in a soft, tender kiss. The two pulled away moments later, and she paused. "Emma?"

"Yes?"

"I have… a sort of random question."

"Shoot." The smile on Emma's face never faltered, though the conflicted look on Regina's face was concerning.

"Have you ever thought about coming out to your parents?"

"I… what?" The blonde blinked. That certainly _was_ a random question.

"Have you ever thought about-"

"I heard you." Emma leaned back against the car seat and shrugged. "I'm not sure how to, and I don't know how they'll react." Emma answered honestly. Though, that complication up in Boston that she had told her parents about was something that had given her hope. Maybe they wouldn't react terribly since they didn't seem to mind _that?_ "Why are you asking me?"

"I was just curious. I was thinking about my mother and…" Regina shook her head, trailing off.

"I was thinking about doing it." Emma whispered, looking out at the wintry scene. "I'm just not sure how to approach it."

"Sit them down and tell them. I'd find that to be the most blatant way, and perhaps easiest."

"I don't know…" Emma sighed. "I know I don't really want them to find out when I marry a chick…" She looked up at Regina with a smile, as if that 'chick' was referring to her.

"Better sooner rather than later." Regina reassured, setting a hand on top of Emma's. "You don't have to."

"I know." The blonde nodded and flipped her hand over to lace her fingers with Regina's, though awkwardly with their gloved hands. "I'll do it."

"You will?" She asked curiously, squeezing Emma's hand.

"Yeah. Maybe not tonight… Maybe on New Year's Eve? At midnight. A new year, a fresh start." Emma turned her attention to the loft and looked up to her floor, noticing a shadowy figure by the window. Of course, Mary Margaret was here to break their conversation short again.

"I should go." Emma quickly muttered before Regina had the chance to reply. She gave her brunette lover's hand a squeeze before removing her hand from the grip. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, maybe I'll come over."

"I'd like that." Regina smiled, her eyes floating to the box on Emma's lap. She snorted with laughter. "Are you really going to bring that into your house?"

"What else did you want me to do with it?" The blonde muttered, looking at the box. "You gave it to me. It's mine."

"You could have left it at my house." Though the amusement on Regina's face did not falter. "Have a good night, darling. And have fun looking at lights."

"I will." Emma beamed and leaned over to give Regina a chaste kiss on the lips. "And you have a good night, too."

The brunette nodded as Emma then opened the door and stepped out of the car. She stretched and sighed blissfully, closing it behind her. She quickly made her way up to the loft, dick-in-a-box in hand.

"Did you have fun?" Mary Margaret asked, immediately greeting Emma in the doorway to the apartment.

"Y-yeah…" Emma regarded her oddly, brows furrowed as she moved past her mother.

"Did your friend enjoy the gift?"

"Mhm." The blonde nodded and hastily made her way upstairs to dump the box on her bed. She really needn't any questions about it, because how the hell was she going to explain what it was?

"What was in the box?"

Emma nearly sunk to the floor in disbelief at her father's question.

"Nothing," she muttered, heading towards the door. The two of them seemed to already have donned their winter gear.

"Nothing?"

"Yeah, it was a gag gift." Emma found herself saying, stopping by the door as her parents stayed where they were, staring at her. "It was just an empty box. They had me bring it home anyways."

"They do that?" Mary Margaret turned towards her husband who nodded.

"You wouldn't believe the amount of complaints I get down at the station." He shook his head.

"Can we go?" Emma muttered, opening the door. She really wasn't fond of going outside again, but the faster they left, the quicker that they would be home and she could go to bed.

"Of course!" Mary Margaret cheerfully agreed, finally making her way to the door, followed by her husband.

"Did you have fun with your friend?" David asked as they stopped so he could lock the door. It was the same question that his wife had asked only moments ago. He either wasn't paying attention or hadn't heard, but Emma decided to answer it anyways, and truthfully.

"Yeah, I had tons of fun. But I'm exhausted."


	22. It's Too Late to RuPaulogize

Emma flopped on her bed, shifting uncomfortably as her green eyes were kept on the small digital clock on her bed stand. It was nearing midnight, with only ten minutes to spare. And midnight meant a new day. And that new day resulted in a new year.

 _And_ that new year was when Emma had decided to tell her parents of what she had hidden for so long. She had considered greatly what Regina had told her on Christmas night and finally concluded what she wanted to do.

The blonde was reluctant to ever reveal this news to her parents, especially since she hadn't a clue how they would react.

That reason was exactly why she kept it to herself.

Mary Margaret and David didn't seem the type to judge her, though she couldn't be so sure. People tended to be something far different on the inside than they appeared on the outside. That had terrified Emma. She didn't want to ruin her perfect relationship with the two of them over something that seemed so stupid.

The blonde closed her eyes momentarily before opening them, glancing at the glowing green numbers.

 _11:55 P.M._

She swallowed thickly. She had five minutes, even less now, to tell them. Emma had spent _days_ thinking about how she was going to bring it up. She had spent nights, curled up in bed, thinking of the outcomes.

Would they be disgusted? Would they be happy for her? Would they just brush it off?

She didn't have to tell them. She knew it. She wasn't obligated and she could back out now if she wished. But if she backed out now, she would only wimp out in the future. They would never know unless they had ever caught her with a lover like Regina had been.

" _Better sooner rather than later."_

Regina had said, and she was right. If she were to tell them now, she wouldn't have to worry about any reactions they might have in the future when Emma would be too far into something to take it well.

They wouldn't know about Regina.

And their ignorance to her would be bliss since they would be unable to tear her away from Emma, or guilt the blonde into leaving her.

Regina was safe. And that had made Emma safe. Well, for the most part anyways.

The teenager glanced up at the clock again, the thoughts in her mind swimming away as she sobered from them.

 _11:59 P.M._

"Emma?" Mary Margaret called from downstairs. "It's almost time. You going to join us?"

"Yeah!" The blonde swallowed thickly and wiped her suddenly clammy palms on her pajama bottoms. Here she goes.

David turned his attention toward his daughter when she hopped down the stairs, wearing an uncomfortable smile on her face. "I didn't think you'd make it. We have about fifteen seconds from the new year."

"Oh, boy." Emma made her way to them, who were standing in the living room with their eyes glued to the television and the countdown on it.

" _Five… Four… Three… Two… One! Happy New Year, everybody!_ " The announcer shouted through the television's speakers and Emma closed her eyes as her parents whooped.

"Time to break out the sparkling juice!" Mary Margaret chimed, heading towards the kitchen to pour the three of them a glass of the sparkling white grape juice.

David grinned and clapped a hand on Emma's back. "It's the new year."

"Feels the same to me." Emma mumbled as they joined her mother in the kitchen.

"Time for our New Year's Resolutions!" Mary Margaret chirped excitedly, handing the two of them the glass of sparkling juice.

Emma accepted her glass and took a sip, a gentle sigh slipping from her lips. Here were the resolutions that Mary Margaret and David seemed so keen to have. The years that she had been here, they had done them and normally hadn't fulfilled them by the year's end.

"I'll resolute to reducing the amount of bear claws I eat." David barked with laughter at his own words, patting his gut as his wife joined him with a gleeful giggle.

"But you won't." She murmured fondly, a twinkle in her eyes as she gazed at him.

"What's your resolution?" He turned on her, a wry smile on his lips. Emma grinned at the way they seemed to tease each other, nearly chuckling when Mary Margaret stuck her tongue out at him.

Those two were so in love. Most of the time it was nauseating to watch, but it was sweet at other times.

"What about you, Emma?" Mary Margaret turned to stare at the blonde and only then did she realize she had completely missed what her mother's resolution was.

Gulping, she gave her a shaky smile. She was in the spotlight now. Was she really going to tell them?

"I have a confession for the new year that I need to get off my chest." She found herself wheezing out, her heart thudding in her chest.

What was she doing?

She felt as if she were going to faint.

Her brain seemed to float away and each movement was not her own. She was too far gone now. She needed to tell them.

They looked at her expectantly, David's brows rising.

"Oh," Mary Margaret hummed, her head tilted. "What is it, honey?"

"I-I…" Emma chewed on her lower lip. "I probably should have told you this a long time ago. Like… when I first got here."

"Emma…" David frowned now, noticing the way the blonde had started to fidget in her spot. And fidget she did, tugging nervously at her fingers as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, then back and forth again.

"If you don't want to tell us…"

"No, I do. I need to." Emma cleared her throat and dropped her arms to her sides, trying to gain new confidence.

 _Just say it_.

"I like girls," she said, casting a worried look toward the two.

David seemed to nod slowly as Mary Margaret just stared at her.

"What do you mean?" She asked, setting her glass down. "It's not a secret, right? Your friends are girls."

David wrapped an arm around his wife's waist. "Mary Margaret…"

He knew what she meant.

Emma looked at him, then to her mother.

Was she playing dumb? Or was she denying it?

"I-I'm gay," Emma cleared up, bracing herself for the worst.

"What do you mean?" Mary Margaret repeated her question, this time her brows were furrowed. David's grip only tightened.

"Mary Margaret…" he whispered her name as if to tell her to come off it.

But she didn't.

"How come you hadn't told us this?"

"I just wasn't…"

"You weren't _what_?" Emma flinched when she heard Mary Margaret's voice rise. "Were you incapable of telling us something this important?"

"Honey, don't do this." David tried to calm his wife, giving her a squeeze, but the woman wouldn't have it. She pulled away from him, glaring in his direction.

"David. Don't _you_ do _that_. Stay out of it."

"Look…" Emma muttered, holding her hands up. "I don't want to make you angry or anything."

"Oh, but you already have! You should have told me this, Emma."

"I would have… But I was scared to."

"What's scary is the influence it will be giving you."

"What do you mean?" The blonde's eyebrows shot up to her hairline.

David just stood there with a sympathetic gaze.

"Why would you do this to me, Emma? You could just have a nice boy…" Mary Margaret crossed her arms over her chest, not moving from her spot.

That was a good thing.

Because the last time this happened the mother moved from her spot.

"It's all a simple mistake, right, Emma? You just haven't had the chance to find yourself a nice boy. I can help you, you know that?" Now she was smiling as if her plan would fix it all.

Emma stared at her, flabbergasted. Was she really saying this? Was she really going to try to shove a dick down her throat?

Because that thought terrified Emma and was one of the reasons she was quite gay.

"It's not like that, Mary Margaret." The blonde licked her lips and drew in a breath "Look, I'm not sexually attracted to men. It's not that I can't get a boyfriend, I just don't _want_ one."

"What about Killian?"

"I just went to the dance with him because he literally _begged_ me."

"You led him on."

"Yes," she answered, even though it wasn't a question. "But I told him and he's cool with it."

"That's not a nice thing to do, Emma." The pixie-haired woman huffed, quirking a brow at her daughter. "And it wasn't nice to keep this from me."

"I'm _sorry_. I was just… scared of how you'd react. It's happened before and it ended badly." Emma admitted, her head downcast. "I thought you were cool with the whole gay thing, like when I told you about that couple in Boston."

"That's _them_ , Emma. This is _you_."

" _So_? What's the difference?" The blonde snapped her head up, her voice laced with pain.

Was there something defective about her? Was it a sin to be happy? To have a home? To have unconditional love from parents?

"You shouldn't subject yourself to something like that. Do you know what people will say about you? About _us?_ "

"Why should you care? I thought you loved me?" Emma narrowed her eyes in disbelief. She looked at David who just stood there, gazing sadly at his wife.

"I do, Emma."

"Then why should you care who I like?" She asked softly.

"Because it's just not _right_." Mary Margaret argued. "Do you know what the others in this town will say? They'll look at us differently. They'll _talk._ "

"They won't have to know."

"But they'll find out!"

"Oh, your poor _reputation_!" Emma mock lamented, throwing her arms in the air.

Was Mary Margaret conceded enough only to care about _herself_ and _her_ appearance to the public of Storybrooke that she didn't care how it affected Emma?

"Don't you talk back to me, Emma _Swan_! I'm concerned about _you_." The brunette squawked, glowering at the blonde. She remained in her spot, unmoving.

Emma only rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry for being gay. Why don't you just send me back like a defective toy?"

"Maybe I will."

Those three words that left Mary Margaret's mouth felt like a sword stabbing Emma right through the heart. The tears welled in her eyes faster than anything.

" _Mary Margaret!"_ David's voice was stern as he moved forward, but it wasn't to his wife. He made a move toward Emma, but the blonde jerked from his grasp.

"Leave me alone!" Her throat constricted as the words flew out of her mouth. She made her way to the stairs, soon finding solace on her bed.

Right now, what she wanted to do is get the hell out of this place and go seek out her girlfriend.

Emma picked her cellphone up, tears streaming down her face as a sob shook her. She was no longer numb to the pain that she had been so used to enduring. She was as fragile as she had been as a little girl and easily shattered. And currently, she was in a million pieces.

" _Emma?_ " Regina's drowsy voice answered from the other side of the line, sending a shot of peace through Emma's body.

Though she still did not calm.

"G-Gina?" She cried into the phone, clutching it close against her ear as she rocked herself on the bed.

" _My Gods, Emma, what happened? Are you alright? Where are you?"_

"N-no…" she answered into the phone, choking down a sob. "I-I told them."

The line went silent for a moment before Regina finally answered. " _I'm on my way._ "

Emma grunted something into the phone before hanging up.

This was why she loved that woman. She didn't question her. She was willing to pick her up at such a late hour of the night.

Sweet woman.

How could her mother not see something like this?

Emma wiped the tears from her eyes as she grabbed her duffle bag from the closet and began to pack important items into it. She wasn't sure how long she wanted to be gone from this place. Currently, she couldn't care to return and would happily live her life away from the Nolans.

She would just grab what was most important to her and leave the rest. She could always come back to get it when things have cooled down. Though, that thought wasn't the least bit pleasant.

Shaking those thoughts away, she focused her attention on packing the duffle bag before moving onto her backpack. When both were full with clothes and items, she set them by the stairs and moved to don her leather jacket and boots.

Then she took the jacket off, flinging it onto the bed before deciding to wear her favorite hooded sweatshirt instead.

The blonde paused, looking around the room to see if she forgot anything. Then it hit her. She was leaving. This would be the final family that would reject her for being Emma.

The blonde shook the sudden heaviness that had grown in her heart and grabbed her bags to head down the stairs. She was immediately stopped by the two of them, their eyes focused intently on her.

"Emma…" Mary Margaret took a step towards her, but Emma quickly shook her head and darted away from her.

"No. You've done enough. You don't want me as part of this family." Saying those words brought fresh tears to her eyes. "And you're getting your wish."

"Don't do this, Emma. I-I didn't mean it." She whispered. "I'm sorry…"

"You already lost me, Mary Margaret. I'm sorry that it had to end this way." Emma avoided looking at her as she headed towards the door, ignoring the pleas from David.

"Emma, think about what you're doing. Don't walk out that door. Please. We need to discuss this."

But she wasn't hearing it as she opened the door.

"If you step out that door, Emma, don't plan on coming back." Her mother's words had finally ceased her, and she turned around.

"That's rich coming from you." She recoiled, shimmering forest eyes on the brunette who appeared to regret the very words that left her mouth. "And it's alright. I don't plan on it. _Ever_."

Without waiting for a reply, she stepped through the threshold and into the hallway. She could hear Mary Margaret's desperate apology behind her, but she ignored it and pulled the door shut.

Emma quickly made her way down the stairs and pulled the second door open. The cool night's breeze blew into the building, causing her to shiver. She was glad that Regina offered to pick her up. It was cold as hell and she didn't feel like walking in it.

The blonde sighed, standing in the doorway for a moment. Her eyes were on the black Benz parked in front of the building. She could see the snowflakes as they fell in front of the headlights, shimmering as they daintily floated in the air.

Drawing her attention away from the scenery outside, she twisted her body to look behind her. One last look because she was certain that she wouldn't be coming back. This was no longer a home of hers. It was just another to scratch off the list.

Sighing, she crossed over the threshold once again, her boot crunching on the snow underfoot. She could do this. She felt _strong_. So strong that she drew her other boot from the hallway until she was standing outside with the door's handle in her hand.

Then she released it.

And when the door clicked shut, she broke.

And when she broke, she sobbed, falling back against the door as her body shuddered.

She heard a car door, but chose to ignore it as she covered her face with an arm.

"Emma, honey…" She heard the familiar voice call her name as warm arms wrapped tightly around her.

Emma turned into the older woman's arms and sobbed into her shoulder, her arms wrapping the best they could around Regina's petite frame.

"I've got you, sweetheart." Regina whispered into the air, pressing kisses to the top of her head. A soothing hand rubbed circles on her upper back as they rocked back and forth.

Emma could already feel herself calming as she inhaled her lover's spicy perfume. Her eyes remained squeezed shut as she clung to her jacket, fists balled into the material when she tried to catch her breath from the hiccups.

"I've got you…" The brunette reassured again, gloved fingers brushing through blonde tangles. "I won't let you go. I'm here."

Emma wanted so badly to respond to her, but the words only caught in her throat and escaped as another sob escaped into her shoulder.

" _Shh_ … shh shh…" Regina hummed softly, pressing several kisses to Emma's forehead.

The blonde hiccupped and pulled slightly away from the brunette, minutes later after she had finally calmed. She stared at the older woman with large, puffy eyes and a nose that could resemble Rudolph's.

"Th-thank you…" She whispered, voice hoarse.

"Don't thank me, sweetheart." Regina cupped her rosy cheek, giving her a reassuring smile. "This is what I'm here for."

"We should go… I don't want to be around here anymore."

"Of course." The brunette nodded, concern sharp in her eyes as she pulled from the blonde and made her way over to the still running Benz.

Emma followed her, opening the backseat door to shove her bags in before getting into the front passenger's seat. After she had settled and pulled her seat belt on, the teacher pulled away from the curb and started off toward her house.

"You brought quite a bit of luggage." Regina commented, her voice soft.

"Yeah," the blonde responded, giving her a sheepish smile. "I hope you don't mind."

"I don't." She kept her eyes on the road. It was icy out and Emma could feel the car skitter to the side when she had turned a corner.

"How long do you plan on staying?" Regina asked curiously, mocha orbs transfixed on the blonde now once they had safely got onto the street.

Emma didn't answer the question, instead gazing out the window beside her at the yards with Christmas decorations.

She didn't _want_ to answer that question, because in truth, she didn't want to go back. Yes, perhaps after some time had passed she would change her mind, but she didn't want to bother with it now. And answering Regina's question would give her only a specific time frame to stay, or so it had felt. She didn't want something definite right now.

But how if the brunette teacher didn't want her residing at her house for that long of time?

Emma would have to rethink her options and crash somewhere. Like at Granny's Bed and Breakfast. Ruby could hook her up with a room there. She could even get a part-time job at the diner to pay for her board.

Closing her eyes, the blonde forced the thoughts away. She didn't want to think so quickly of her future right now. She wanted to live right now, right at this moment, and continue out the rest of this night with Regina.

The blonde opened her eyes again, just in time to see a car pulling out of a driveway ahead of him. She tensed at the sight. Regina was going fast and they didn't look like they were going to relent. Her pulse quickened.

"Regina?" She glanced towards the brunette who wore the same panicked expression, her foot slamming on the breaks.

Only they didn't slow down.

The Mercedes still slid across the icy road and straight toward the car that would surely be T-boned by them.

It was a silent scream that resonated in Emma's mind as her mouth formed an O when the brunette suddenly jerked the steering wheel to avoid the car, who had finally gained enough wit to pull back forward.

The cars barely missed before the Benz crashed into a large snow pile from the street cleaners. Both women gasped, Emma's heart feeling as if it had stopped when the car had.

The blonde was thrown forward, though the seat belt had luckily stopped her from flying into the window and left her with an uncomfortable pain on her chest bone.

"Shit, that was close…" she breathed, emerald eyes wide as she fell back in her seat.

Emma's breath was heavy, matching Regina's, as she stared back to the car that they had hit. It was already driving down the road, its rear lights fading off in the snowy distance.

"Asshole," she muttered, turning back to peek at her girlfriend.

That's when it had hit her that the teacher hadn't said a thing about the accident. All she heard was the other woman's breathing, heavy in the suddenly thick air.

"Regina?" Emma whispered.

Regina was currently slumped in her spot, her head bowed with hair shielding her face from Emma's view. She remained unmoving, hands on lap and seat belt totally not on.

This had panicked Emma.

She was always the one to insist on safety first. She wouldn't even start the car without Emma first putting her seat belt on. And, the one time that Regina hadn't followed her own rules…

"Regina!" She said more urgently, shaking the brunette's arm.

There was a soft response. "Fuck, that hurt..."

The blonde could have wept when Regina finally moved with a hand attaching to her forehead. And she winced.

That's when she saw it. There was a nasty cut on her forehead with dark, crimson liquid seeping from it and down the side of her face. Deep colored streams also ran from her nostrils, trickling down her face like a bloody waterfall, and continued still at a rapid pace.

"Emma...?" Regina was staring at her; those big beautiful chestnut eyes were open and focused on her. "How bad is it?"

"Gina!" The blonde squeaked, dropping her phone onto her lap to give the teacher a tight hug. She had flown across the seat and nearly settled herself into the older woman's lap. "Your face is covered in blood!"

"I'm fine, Emma…" Regina's arms, warm and comforting, slid around the blonde's petite waist. "I'm alright."

"Are you?" The blonde pulled away and looked at the wound on her forehead, a finger moving to give it a gentle prod. The brunette winced, hissing in a breath. "That cut looks bad."

"Mm, so I see." The teacher murmured, flipping the visor down to peek in the mirror to see that she had, in fact, had a cut there.

"It's really bad…" Emma shifted in her seat. She searched the car frantically, eventually opening the glove box to find a single napkin. With a sigh of relief, she licked the end of it and started to clean the drying blood from Regina's face and neck.

"What are you doing?" The brunette absently questioned, her brows furrowed as the blonde had continued with her ministrations until she had cleaned the blood up to the wound. Then she stopped.

"I'm cleaning you up."

"We shouldn't do that here." Regina grabbed the blonde's wrist as she made a reach for the cut on her forehead. "Better lighting at home and medical supplies."

"Are you sure that you're able to drive? You really took a nasty crack on your noggin. And your nose is… well, it was bleeding. It could be broken." Emma tossed the soiled napkin onto the floor, earning a disapproving look from Regina.

"I am _fine_ , Emma." She reassured. "Though, I'm not sure about my car…"

"We're in snow."

The brunette teacher turned a glare on her that could melt the entire block's snow. She shrank back into her seat and buckled up once again.

"Put your seat belt on." She reminded Regina who had already set the car into reverse.

"Right…" She quickly clicked the seat belt into place and began to pull slowly away from the large bank of snow.

"Are we moving?"

"Slowly, yes."

"I'm sorry for making you come get me." Emma muttered as the brunette continued to reverse, the car tires spinning relentlessly in the snow with no sign of further movement.

"You didn't make me." Regina sighed, pulled her foot off the gas and undid her seat belt.

"Yeah, but… I should have just walked."

"Emma, darling." The brunette turned and grabbed Emma's face into her hands. "Don't worry about it. Focus on getting your ass out of the car and helping me get this snow out of the way so we can go home."

"Sorry…" Emma mumbled sheepishly, staring doe-y eyed into Regina's warm gaze.

A soft curve lifted on the brunette's pink lips, gentle and adoring. She leaned forward, bringing the blonde's face closer to her own as she parted her lips and connected them with the eighteen-year-old's.

The blonde's breath hitched at the contact and she remained stiffened by surprise for only a moment before melting completely into the kiss, returning it.

Then Regina pulled away, gave her an impish smile, and chuckled. "Come on. I'd like to get home."

"Yeah…" Emma murmured breathlessly and tugged her seat belt off so she could get out. Her cheeks were flushed, and not just from the cold air that bit into her skin as soon as she exited the car.

The blonde joined Regina at the front of the car and began to kick the snow surrounding the tires away with her feet. When the two thought it enough, they both entered the car again, buckled up, and tried to reverse from the spot.

It worked this time and they were on the icy road again, Regina this time fully alert as she drove extra slow on the quiet streets.

It was well past midnight, Emma was sure, and that was late in a small town. Normally everyone was locked up inside by nine or ten, leaving very few to roam the streets.

The blonde sighed and set her bags on the chaise lounge in Regina's room after the slow ride to the house.

Emma drank in the familiar surroundings, smiling when she had spotted her painting just above the armoire with the raggedy stuffed panda sitting on top.

"I put it up as promised." Regina's voice sounded from behind the blonde and she jumped in surprise, too occupied by thought to have heard the woman come up.

"I see. And with your little panda there."

"Indeed," she chuckled softly, wrapping her arms around Emma's waist. The blonde closed her eyes, letting her lover's sweet scent fill her senses. She leaned into her, hands drawing up to cover Regina's.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" She asked, turning slightly in the older woman's arms. "We still need to get your cut all fixed up. Come on." The blonde escaped Regina's grip, pale fingers slipping into olive ones as she led the chuckling woman to the bathroom.

Once there, she sat the toilet seat down and had Regina take a seat as she searched for the first-aid supplies.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened?" Regina asked, striking up a conversation as the blonde brought out a bottle of peroxide and a cotton ball.

Emma sighed, dabbing the little white fluff into the liquid before bringing it up to the cut on Regina's forehead, earning a wince and hiss of pain in response. "I told them."

"Blatantly?"

"Well, there's this thing that they had me do on New Year's instead of some resolution. They wanted me to give them at least one confession for the New Year, you know, a fresh start?" Emma hesitated as she gently dabbed the wound on her lover's forehead until the blood was mostly washed away to reveal a nasty scar.

"I understand…" Regina's eyes darted to the bathroom counter where the blonde set to work with a bandage.

"Yeah, so I confessed that. I said that I liked girls, you know? But Mary Margaret had to act dumb and ask what I meant." She let out a sigh and turned to stick the bandage over Regina's cut, nearly covering a third of her forehead.

Emma frowned and cupped the brunette's cheek, the frown faltering when Regina's had welcomingly nuzzled her hand.

"What did they say?" She inquired, the mocha hues disappearing underneath naked eyelids.

 _Gods, did Regina look ever perfect without makeup?_

Emma blinked and shook that thought away no matter how much it was true. "Well, after Mary Margaret asked that, I just blurted it out. Then she had asked it _again_."

"What about David?"

"He just stood there and said Mary Margaret's name, you know how someone does that when someone else is going a little too far or something? He didn't really say anything else besides that." Emma scoffed. He didn't even try to defend her.

Though, Emma wished he had. That might have made her want to stay.

Regina shook her head, pulling Emma down onto her lap. The blonde accepted the new position with a weary sigh and leaned against her, an arm looping around the older woman's waist.

"What did she say after that?" The brunette hesitantly asked.

"To sum it up, she wasn't happy and said that all I needed was to find a nice boy. She accused me of having these feelings towards women because of lack of dates, I'm pretty sure." The blonde scowled.

"Of course she did…" The teacher sighed, her eyes closing.

"I didn't care that she said that, really. That wasn't what made me leave." Emma's voice wavered as she thought of the real reason she had left.

"What did she say, Emma?" Regina tightened her grip, forcing the blonde closer to her. Emma gratefully accepted the comfort and curled up slightly.

"It may sound silly saying it out loud but…" She sucked in a shaky breath, a single tear shedding from her eye. "'Maybe I will.'"

"What do you mean?"

"She said that when I told her that she should just send me back like a defective toy." Emma cracked.

"Why the hell would she say such a thing?" Regina hissed the words angrily, her brows furrowed together as she stared at the wall across from her with molten eyes. Emma nearly squeaked at the ferocity in her stare.

"I don't know…" The blonde admitted, snuggling closer to her lover to get that look off her face. "And as I left, she didn't stop me, she just said if I walked through that door that I should plan on never coming back."

"I don't like this woman any longer." Regina scowled, her perfect, white teeth baring at the thought of the pixie-haired brunette.

"I trusted her." Emma said softly. "I grew attached to this place. To the Nolans. I promised myself not to do that because I would only end up hurt. But I reassured myself after the first year. They were a nice couple. I didn't think them capable of hurting me in any way, especially purposefully."

The brunette gazed at her through sad eyes and kissed her with tender lips.

Emma sighed blissfully, her fingers curling into Regina's pajama top.

"Gina," she whispered, forest eyes fluttering open to be greeted with mud.

"Yes?"

"Would you ever leave me?"

"Not if my life would depend on it."

Emma smiled at those words. She wanted so much to believe them, but people said crazy things when they were in love. They said crazy things when they were out of love.

But she decided to take those words to heart regardless. They made her feel better. They made her feel _wanted_.

"Hey, honey. I mean it." An olive hand cupped Emma's pale cheek as Regina met her gaze.

"I don't know if I can take you seriously." The blonde gave her an impish smile and Regina blinked.

"I really do mean it, Emma…"

"Yes. But we are also on the toilet, having this deep conversation."

And at that moment, she swore Regina was going to have a brain aneurism. Emma could already see that vein in her forehead popping out, even as the bandage covered it.

Oh, snap. The wrath of Regina Mills was about to be bestowed upon her.

"Then why don't we get into bed?" She suggested coolly, her arms untangling from Emma.

The blonde nodded slightly and slipped off Regina's lap. She gave her a sheepish smile before hopping out of the bathroom, the older woman following behind her with a deep chuckle. Emma's heart fluttered at the rich, melodic sound behind her.

"Get in, Ms. Anti-Toilet-Talk." Regina hummed, passing her to climb onto the bed on the side she usually slept on; the left. The covers had already been pulled back and the bed mussed.

She must have been sleeping when Emma had called her. She _did_ sound tired when she had answered.

"Lemme get comfy first." The blonde muttered softly as she pulled her sweatshirt over her head and tossed it onto her bags. Now she wasn't about to boil any longer. It was warm in the house wearing that heavy thing.

After pulling her boots and socks off, she joined Regina on the bed, flipping the covers back as well. Her back pressed against the headboard as a yawn sounded. She could lay down, she knew, because she would surely fall asleep.

She was emotionally exhausted, and a bit physically as well.

Her eyes glanced towards the bright numbers on the digital clock by Regina's bedside, the display reading _2:09 A.M._

"So, you really mean it, huh?" Emma asked, starting back up from where they left off.

"Of course, I do." The brunette responded as if the little intermission in their conversation hadn't happened. "I love you, Emma. I really do and I would be willing to do almost _anything_ for you."

"Yeah…" Emma bit her lip, her head slightly downcast as she gazed at Regina. "I know how you feel. It's, like… It's really hard to explain it."

"That's love for you, my swan." The older woman pulled Emma toward her and, without warning, the blonde fell on top of Regina's body. She giggled softly, wrapping her arm around the brunette's waist.

"It drowns you in tears and sets your heart on fire." Regina smiled, her chin resting on top of soft, blonde locks as Emma kept her head resting on the teacher's breast.

"It's... nice." Emma agreed, shifting as she gave her a squeeze.

"Indeed," she chuckled. "Though we may not be able to comprehend it, we shouldn't question it. It's there. We feel it. We should enjoy it while we've got it."

"I want to feel like this forever." The blonde sighed, her eyes closing.

"I do, too," she heard that husky voice whisper just above her. A smile broke out on her face.

"Gina?"

"Mhm?"

"I've been thinking," she started, moving to face her lover. A warm smile greeted her and adoring chestnut eyes sent her into a puddle. "What are we going to do after I graduate? What'll happen to us?"

"I would like to believe we would remain as we are." The brunette simply answered.

"Yes, but…" The blonde trailed off, closing her eyes. "I don't want to stay here… in Storybrooke. I mean, I do want to stay with _you_ , but I want to go to college and-"

"I see what you mean." Regina hushed her, cupping her cheeks as she stared deeply into green pools. The answer was there in them; Emma could see it. "I will go where you go," she said, releasing the blonde's face, but not before giving her pale lips a peck.

"But what about your job here?" Emma frowned slightly.

"It's getting old," she whispered, fingering a piece of blonde hair. "Most of the students dislike me. I am not a good enough teacher per them and I might as well just move on."

"But you love teaching?"

"Yes, but… I'm not exactly appreciated here and the students do not put in the effort that they should." Regina averted her gaze, but Emma could see the emotion flickering through those vulnerable orbs. "Besides, I'm sure they will have open jobs for teaching up in Boston. Perhaps I can land one at a college where the courses will be more hard-put. Maybe then will the students give an effort."

Emma perked up at those words. Regina getting a job in Boston? And a college one at that? Perhaps their relationship as teacher and student wouldn't be over.

That thought sent a pleasant shiver down her spine and straight to her core. It was intoxicating to have such a forbidden relationship. And it was taunting as hell when she was sitting in a desk as her girlfriend was pacing around the classroom in those tight pantsuit outfits or sexy pencil skirts.

Mm, she could get used to that.

"Would you really do that… for me?" Emma asked. Though, it was pleasant and comforting to find out that Regina was willing to go with her, she had suspected that it wouldn't be so easy.

"I have nothing for me here besides you, Emma." Regina left her gaze on Emma's face, the smile on her lips only widening. Emma couldn't help but to grin as well, the little butterflies in her belly fluttering in a rapid tattoo.

"Goddamn, I love you, Gina." The blonde sighed contentedly, clutching onto her lover's side.

"And I love you. Like I said, I would be willing to do almost anything for you. And if that means moving to Boston, then so be it." The brunette ran her fingers through golden curls, earning a purr from Emma as she pressed into the hand with a happy smile.

"How will you buy or rent something?"

The thought had just occurred to Emma. Did she have enough money for that? Teaching jobs didn't really seem to pay much, and she had a house here already. The bills must be through the roof. Would she sell it?

"I have enough money in my account to rent a small apartment or house for a few years." She answered.

"Can't you sell this house?"

"No." She shook her head. "My mother owns it. It'll be a nice place to stay if we ever visit. You have friends here, correct?"

"I suppose you're right." Emma smiled. "The future sounds nice and less scary." She murmured after a few minutes of silence. She laid her head back on Regina's chest and just listened to her rhythmic heartbeat and each breath that she took.

The brunette responded quietly. It was then that the blonde had noticed the way her eyes drooped every few seconds, causing her to blink them rapidly before it happened again.

"You're tired," she teased softly, using a curled finger to caress her cheek. "We should sleep, Gina."

"I don't want to sleep right now." Regina mumbled sleepily, a smile reaching her tired eyes. A hand had found its way into Emma's hair once again. "I like laying here with you. It's peaceful and takes the world away."

"It also rids the fact that school is starting back up tomorrow. Well, technically speaking since it's the first, now." The blonde grumbled, glancing at the clock once again to catch note of the time.

 _3:15 A.M._

"Please, don't remind me." Regina moaned with displeasure, her head thumping against the headboard.

"You shouldn't do that." The blonde lifted an arm and brought the brunette's head back up, a lopsided smile on her lips. "You've already got it all shaken up."

"And I'm starting to feel the headache that should have come hours ago." The older woman groused, rubbing the bridge of her nose with a wince after realizing that it, too, had been damaged.

"Would you like to take something?"

"No," she simply muttered, dropping her hand back into Emma's hair as she began to absently stroke it.

The blonde hummed happily and closed her eyes, enjoying the sensations around her. The feel of Regina's fingers combing calmly through her hair. The sound of her heart thumping against her head. The gentle rise and fall of her chest with each breath. The scent of her spicy perfume and the sweet smell of her hair.

It was all so calming for Emma as she lay there for some time, just letting it all take over. She didn't know how long it had been as she lay there, gently stroking Regina's stomach long after the older woman had stopped combing her hair. That hand had slid to the small of her back now and rested there, warm and comforting.

Emma hummed sleepily. She could feel herself drift off. Her strokes slowing down. She was _exhausted_.

"Your belly rubbing is slowing, dear." Regina seemed to inform her. "Are you getting tired?"

"Yeah," the blonde simply answered, more consciously aware of her actions as she continued, her fingers tugging up the silk pajama top to expose Regina's smooth, tawny stomach. An absent smile crossed her lips as she ran her fingers over the immaculate skin.

"Hey, remember when we were talking about babies? And I asked if you ever wanted to get pregnant?"

"Indeed, I do, dear."

Emma must have been more tired than she thought as she found herself rambling off about that morning. She didn't know why she was speaking of this now, but the conversation seemed to intrigue them both.

"I bet you'd look adorable with a round belly." She commented, looking over at Regina from her new spot beside her. "Scratch that. I _know_ you would."

"Oh, is that so?" A grin quirked on the older woman's lips.

"I would love to have babies with you some day." Emma found herself mumbling, her eyes growing droopy. "You know when I said I wanted to find the special woman for that? Yeah… I meant you, because… I really, really like you."

"A part of me was hoping you would say that." Regina's response surprised the blonde.

"Really?"

"Yes," was all she had said before falling silent, her cheeks darkening.

"I think that would be cool." Emma stretched slightly and yawned, sinking into the bed. "I think I'd like a son."

"A son?" Regina chuckled softly, turning her gaze on the blonde.

"Yeah. I think it would be fun to raise a messy little boy."

"Oh, what would I do with the two of you?" The older woman smirked. "You'd mess up my house and I'd be constantly running after you with a mop."

"Yeah, but it'd all be worth it in the end, right? We'd all be sitting on the couch, snuggling, as we watched a good Disney film." Emma gently prodded her girlfriend's side. "And it'd be our family. A loving family."

"I think we both deserve a good family." Regina nodded, a yawn slipping from her own lips.

"A family…" Emma whispered in the dark, a smile brighter than the sun itself on her face.

She had always wanted a family of her own. One that would be stable. One that she would be a part of. She would be able to love and be loved.

A family with Regina?

What was she thinking?

She was too hopeful, that's what.

Emma felt the older woman snuggle against her and soft lips pressing against her neck.

"Goodnight," a voice whispered to her.

A voice that would always send her heart soaring.

"Goodnight," she murmured back.

She could see this happening ten years from now. They would be lying in bed together, falling asleep in each other's loving arms as their son or daughter slept in the room next to them. Or slept with them, between them, wiggling as they would struggle and snuggle between their mothers.

Was she setting herself for heartbreak by hoping for the future?

Emma could tell this was going to be a long, worrisome night. She wouldn't be able to sleep with those thoughts on her mind. She poked her head up, careful not to disturb Regina as she did so. The woman was already fast asleep, a gentle snore emanating from her.

Bless her little heart, Emma thought with a smile. That woman was precious, even as she slept. She had to keep the giggle in her throat as she gazed at the numbers on the digital clock.

 _5:45 A.M._

A long night just turned into a long morning.

* * *

"You have to get up, Emma. I'm not kidding." Regina was standing at the side of the bed, already dressed for the day, wearing one of her black skirts and a deep red blouse.

It was _7:45_ in the morning and school was starting back up today. The alarm had sounded at seven, which was when Regina had gotten up and tried to wake the teenager up as well. When she had groaned, and flipped back over to fall back asleep, the older woman had reluctantly obliged to give her more time to sleep as she took a shower.

Then she came back out about fifteen minutes later to try and wake her up again.

Emma still hadn't budged by then, pleading for a few more minutes.

So, Regina walked off to finish with her daily preparations for the day, drying her hair and putting her face on.

When she was finished another fifteen minutes later, Emma was still asleep, begging for another fifteen.

"Fine, then, I will make us some breakfast. You better be ready to get up by then." Regina had said before going downstairs to make breakfast for the two.

And now, here she was again, another fifteen minutes later.

"Just gimme another fifteen…" Emma slurred sleepily, tossing onto her side away from Regina.

"Don't make me get the cold water."

"I'll still sleep. You can't make me go to school." The blonde remained unbothered as she began to snore, falling back asleep.

" _Emma Swan!"_ Regina huffed and smacked the blonde's rear end. The blonde squeaked and jerked her body forward, a hand moving to her bum to rub it.

" _Kinky_." She murmured and went back to her resting position, her breathing evening out once again.

"Goddammit, Emma. I need to get things prepared." The brunette huffed and climbed onto the bed. "If you won't get up, I will _make_ you."

"Nothing in the world will get me up for school." Emma ignored the weight shift on the mattress and flopped onto her other side. Regina was getting onto the bed from her side. It was always best to face away.

Then she wouldn't feel _too_ guilty.

It was a hand between her thighs that had her green eyes bolt open. Her entire body went rigid as that hand teased her through thin cotton panties.

Oh, she was _good_.

She knew what Regina was doing and she wouldn't fall for it. No way in hell. Nope. Not a chance.

Emma remained as relaxed as she could, pretending not to enjoy the fingers rubbing her through cotton at an insatiable pace.

But then she couldn't help but to moan, and once she did, she knew she was screwed.

 _Fuck_ , she cursed internally, her hips rocking against the hand that pleasured her. She already lost her composure, might as well just let it take over her.

Then Regina stopped and pulled her hand away.

"Hey…" Emma craned her neck to be met with a devious smirk on red painted lips.

"If you promise to get up, I'll continue." She winked, the mischievous look on her face never faltering. "But you _have_ to get up. School starts at 8:30. We have about a half hour."

"I-I promise." The blonde breathed, her heart pounding rapidly against her chest.

"Mm, good girl." Regina grinned and moved to hover over the blonde, one hand on the opposite side of her as she balanced over the blonde's face. She pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"I _am_ your good girl." Emma purred, closing her eyes blissfully as she turned onto her back.

Regina was on her faster than she could utter her name, her legs straddling her hips as she wore a smirk. Her black skirt was bunched up around her waist, her blouse unbuttoned enough to flash her lacy black bra.

"You're looking especially sexy today." Emma smoothed her hands up the brunette's sides, rejoicing in the shiver that she earned.

"You always think I'm sexy. I could be wearing footed pajamas and bunny slippers and you'd still think I'm sexy."

"Because you're just all around sexy," the blonde growled, hands roaming over the silky fabric on her back before shifting toward the front, cupping the mounds on her chest.

Regina let out a delicious moan and arched into the touch, her hands finding purchase on the blonde's creamy thighs. "So are you, my love."

Her eyes darkened, turning obsidian in color. Emma swallowed thickly as moisture pooled between her thighs, her lower belly burning with need. She thrusts her hips up, bumping into her lover's own needy heat who, in return, ground herself down against her with a soft moan.

"Please…" Emma gave Regina's breasts a squeeze, pressing her hips up against the brunette again.

"Only since we are limited on time…" The teacher gave her a wicked grin as she peeled the blonde's panties from her intimate flesh and tugged them off. She lifted herself up, pulling her own panties off before resting in her previous position, her intimate flesh meeting Emma's own.

"Have your way with me, _Ms. Mills_ …" Emma grinned up at the woman who had gazed at her with lust laden eyes.

Her gaze was immediately torn away from her as she felt lithe fingers pressing against her clitoris, stroking it in rough, circular motions. The blonde moaned, her mind blanking as she rocked against Regina's hand, yearning for more contact.

She thrust her hips upward, groaning at the sensation of her lover's wetness against her hot skin. Regina let out a guttural moan, grinding herself into the blonde as her fingers continued to work.

" _Oh, Gods, Gina…_ " Emma breathed into the air, the words after that dying in her throat when Regina had added more pressure to the sensitive nub, her strokes growing quicker.

"Touch me, Emma!" The older woman begged, her head thrown back in ecstasy as she rocked her hips against the blonde's body, a hand on her own breast.

Emma quickly obliged, the hand left on one of the brunette's breasts had pushed aside so the blonde could move the fabric of her bra aside to find her breast. Her other hand went straight for the brunette's center where she easily found Regina's already swollen clit with her fingers and began to stroke in time with the brunette's pace.

The two of them were a moaning, groaning mass, rocking against each other as they both sought pleasure. Emma teased the brunette's hardened nipples with nimble fingers as the teacher moaned blissfully above her, her strokes growing quicker until she slid those fingers down and slid them knuckle-deep into the blonde.

" _Regina_!" Emma cried with surprise, her hips lifting thoughtfully as she moved lasciviously against the pumps. Her own movements were frantic, as if she were pleasuring herself to climax.

And it wasn't long before it paid off, for her at least. She felt herself stiffen, tingling entirely from the tips of her fingers to the tips of her toes as she rode out the waves of pleasure crashing over her. Regina hadn't relented, her hips rocking desperately against Emma's vigorously working fingers as she helped the teenager ride out her orgasm, her fingers working at the little pink nub which had ultimately heightened her climax.

The blonde screamed her pleasure, her fingers digging into Regina's breast, painfully by the expression on her face. But that appeared to have been enough to topple the brunette over the edge.

" _Emma_!" She cried blissfully into the musky air, her rocking hips slowing to a stop when her entire body had tensed just as the blonde's had moments earlier.

The fingers that had once pleasured Emma had slowed, bringing the blonde down from her exhilarating high. Regina's body had shot off a few spasms before she had relaxed, her breathing ragged as sweat glistened on her forehead.

Emma held the teacher after they had removed their hands from each other. The two of them lay together, both trying to catch their breaths as their hearts thumped against their chests in the otherwise quiet room.

"Best morning sex ever…" Emma whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of the brunette's raven hair, a hand absently rubbing her back.

"I must concur." The brunette picked herself up, hovering over the blonde as she stared adoringly into her eyes. "My beautiful duckling."

"Oh… pft…" She blushed as the brunette stroked her cheek with gentle fingers.

The same fingers that had just brought her to one of the best climaxes in her life.

"Mm, I love you." Regina whispered, bending down to press a sweet kiss to Emma's lips.

The blonde eagerly returned it, fingers sliding through her lover's hair. "I love you, too."

They stayed like that for a few moments, staring into each other's eyes with sated smiles on their faces. It wasn't until Regina had glanced towards the clock did she panic and slide off the bed.

"You need to get ready. I need to fix myself up. And we need to eat." The brunette plucked her panties from the ground and headed toward the bathroom as Emma collected herself. She sat in bed for a few moments longer, trying to grab the pieces to her scattered brain and put them back together.

The blonde grinned widely to herself as she got up and quickly gathered her things to get ready. It wasn't until another ten minutes later were the two of them in the kitchen. It was twenty minutes past eight and they needed to get the hell out of there. They had ten minutes before school started and Emma still didn't have her schedule.

She supposed that it was lucky they had their homeroom first.

But she felt guilty for keeping Regina. She wouldn't doubt the teacher would have been out of here an hour ago. Instead, she had been caught up in trying to wake the sleeping teenager and bribe her with sex.

"I'm sorry," Emma mumbled, stuffing the piece of peanut butter toast in her mouth as they exited the house.

"For what, dear?"

"For making you wait… For making you late." She gave her girlfriend a sheepish smile as they piled into the car, Emma's backpack on her lap.

"It's quite alright, dear. It was well worth it." Regina grinned widely. "I was coming down with a headache, but that cleared it right up."

"Good." The blonde smirked and leaned over to place a chaste kiss on her lips. "Now, let's go or else we'll be late."

"That wouldn't be a good thing, considering I'm a teacher." Regina nodded and pulled out of the driveway, driving the few blocks to the school.

Once they had arrived, the two of them popped out of the car and headed toward the building.

"I'll see you later, dear. Do have a good day." Regina smiled as they passed the English hallway.

"Thanks! You too." Emma smiled, trying to keep herself from saying too much to the teacher.

With a sigh, she returned the grin that Regina had flashed to her and headed to Ms. Nova's room.

The blonde took her seat once she had arrived. There wasn't much time left until the bell rang. They really cut it close today, didn't they?

"Hey, Emma! There you are." Killian's voice immediately broke her attention away from her thoughts. She turned to look at the teenage boy, a smile on his lips.

"Hey," she greeted in return.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Around."

" _Around_? What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"I got here late." She rolled her eyes as he took the empty seat next to her.

Ms. Nova sauntered over, handing the blonde a piece of paper.

"How was your winter break, Emma?" She asked politely, a pleasant smile on her face.

Emma returned it. "It was pretty good. How was yours?"

"Wonderful!" She chirped and headed towards her desk with a smile that could beat the sun.

Something had certainly made her happy during the break.

Perhaps it was that Leroy she occasionally saw walking with Ms. Nova when they were about on the town.

Good for her. She got laid.

So did Emma. Several times.

"What do you have?"

"Why are you nosey?" Emma sneered and looked over her schedule.

"Just curious…" He pouted petulantly before whipping his own schedule out to set beside the blonde's.

Emma immediately compared them. She knew that he would have some of the same classes as she, no doubt. He always did.

"I have Art II first period." She grinned snidely, knowing that Killian wouldn't have an art class. He groaned negatively at that.

"What else?"

"I have English after that."

"With who?" He suddenly looked curious, though the paper was right in front of him.

"Mrs. Hurst this time," Emma answered, flinching when he gave a noise that almost resembled a happy squeak. She would have laughed, but she was exhausted.

"I have that, too. Second period, English with Mrs. Hurst." He pointed to his own schedule as if to prove a point. She looked at it and rolled her eyes.

She should have never let him near her when they did their schedules.

"Then I have Economics with Mr. Locksley."

"I have that." Killian smirked. "Third period."

"I'm sure Belle does, too." She lifted her gaze.

"Then I have lunch."

"Aw…" He groaned. "I have it fifth."

"Sucks." She grinned.

"And then I've got another P.E. class. Aerobics, this time."

"Aerobics? Sounds like it's for girls." Killian snorted and looked over his schedule, a flicker of disappointment on his face as he found to not have the same class as her.

Emma had already scanned over his schedule. They had Algebra II together again, but that also left half the day without him.

"I heard there was running, so I took it." She grinned, looking over her schedule again. "Then I have some introduction class to computers. I think it was just some filler, I don't know…"

"You should take Creative Writing II." He nodded, a grin on his face. No. It was a _smirk_.

"They… They really have that?" Emma looked at him, then to his schedule to see that he had, in fact, that class sixth period. And with Ms. Mills.

"I need to visit Mr. Hopper." She muttered.

"So you can have a class with your _girlfriend?_ "

"Shut up, Killian." Emma turned a glare on him. "I've got a pocket knife somewhere. You remember what I said about your balls?"

The blood drained from his face at her words and he nodded stiffly. "Sorry. I won't say anything."

"And you better not be checking her out or anything." Emma gave him a hard stare. "Because your balls will be in your eye sockets before you could say 'ow.'"

"Alright! Alright!" He raised his hands in the air as if to surrender. "I won't. You'll be in there, anyways, if you change your schedule."

"I'll only dream of it." The blonde sighed and stuffed the paper into her backpack. Green eyes glanced towards the clock. They didn't have much time left in homeroom. Two minutes about.

Emma pulled out her phone, bringing up the smiley faces that represented Regina.

 _Hey, Gina. When do you have lunch?_

She hoped to gods that Regina had fourth period lunch as well.

What would she do for lunch if not?

The bell rang and she stood.

"See you second period." Killian smirked, walking out the door as she had.

"Yeah… See you."

The blonde quickly made her way down the hallways until she had reached the art room, relieved to find that her brunette friend was already there. She quickly occupied the seat next to hers.

"Please tell me you have fourth period lunch."

"No, I'm sorry?" Belle frowned at the greeting, a puzzled look on her face.

"Damn." Emma slumped against her seat, wanting suddenly to beat herself in the face with a large textbook.

"Does Ms. Mills not have lunch fourth?"

"I don't know." The blonde shrugged, her hand hovering over her pocket where her phone resided.

"Sorry, Em." Belle gave her a helpless look before setting her messenger bag on the table. She dug through it, soon retrieving a piece of paper; her schedule. "What classes do you have?"

"Art, English, Economics, Lunch, P.E., Intro to computers, and Algebra." Emma recited her schedule as she, too, had pulled it from her bag. "All in that order."

Belle peeked over at her friend's schedule and smiled. "I have Economics the same period you do." She smoothed her schedule down on the table and Emma looked over it.

She paused once she reached her sixth period class.

"You're taking the second creative writing, too?" Emma groaned with distress.

"What do you mean, 'too?'"

"Killian's taking it." The blonde looked at her, frowning.

"I take it you want that class?"

"Yeah."

"Sounds like someone needs to visit Mr. Hopper." Belle quirked a brow at Emma's pained expression.

"I really do. I need to get this shit changed."

"Do it during lunch, then." The brunette shrugged, slipping her schedule back into her bag as the class had started.

"Planning on it if I have nothing else to do." Emma sighed and did the same with her schedule. Was she ever hoping that Regina would come back with a positive message. She didn't want to not have lunch with her. That was their thing. She enjoyed talking with Regina during that hour and if that was going to be obliterated, what the hell was the point in coming to school?

Alright, that was a stupid question. There were plenty reasons why she should go to school, one including Regina kicking her ass. But it would be a depressing day with the knowledge of not being able to spend an hour with Regina, alone, in the middle of the day.

First period was over in a synch and second was rearing up.

It was a boring 55 minutes of sitting there, staring at the screen as the teacher had played a slideshow of classroom etiquette. Emma was sure that she had got it down by now. After spending four years of hearing the same rules, she was sure she could sum them all up quite easily.

No cellphones. No food or drink, except water, most of the time. Do your work. Pay attention. Respect your teacher and peers. Have a pencil. Have paper.

Have this, don't do that. It was all the same and frankly it was annoying.

She could say she appreciated the classes that at least spiced it up by either jumping into something, or filling out a personal survey. Sometimes they did little things to get to know one another.

It was at least more exciting than sitting in the room for 55 minutes, listening to a teacher drone on about missing their class and where to pick up the make-up work.

Yes, yes, Emma got it. Don't be tardy. Don't stick gum underneath the desks. Don't ram your foot up the teacher's ass nor punch them in the throat.

"This is _so_ boring." Killian whispered beside her, halfway through the period.

"Hush!" Mrs. Hurst immediately quieted him. "I will send you to the office."

Oh, well, that was nice. She was one of those teachers that didn't allow the students to talk. Though, she could understand while they were going through rules and such, but still. Killian was right. It was boring as hell.

By the time the bell rang, Emma could have been sleeping on her feet. Her little wake-up bribe this morning had worn her out, miraculously. She figured she'd be walking on a cloud after that. But, apparently not and now she felt as if she'd run into something at any given point.

And now she had to climb _stairs_.

That should be illegal.

Emma huffed and reached the top of the stairs before moving towards the Economics classroom. It was nice; she had two of her friends in the class with her. Hopefully Mr. Locksley wouldn't be one of those teachers that would hush the hell out of them.

"And she made it!" Emma huffed at Killian. How on earth he had beat her here, she would never know. He was accompanied by Belle, who wore a smile as she giggled at his comment.

"I was here before everyone else." She patted the seat next to her. "I saved you a seat."

"Thanks." Emma sighed and slipped into the seat next to her brunette friend. Hopefully there wasn't a seating chart in here. She wouldn't know how she'd go on without sitting next to her friend to rant.

"How was your second period?" Belle asked kindly, eyes on her blonde friend.

"I had _him_. How do you think?" Emma jerked a thumb at Killian who wore a charming smile.

"It was the most fantastic period ever?" The brunette joked, deflating Killian's ego.

"Oh, definitely." Emma let the sarcasm just saturate her words.

The blonde sighed after a moment of giggling with the two of them, sitting back in her seat with a yawn. "I really wish this day would be over with."

"Me too." Belle nodded. "I really wish school wouldn't have started up so soon."

"Ditto." Killian commented beside them. "Why did they think it was a good idea to start it the day after New Year's? Are they stupid?"

"I believe they are." Emma nodded in agreement.

The bell rang before Killian could jeer his next comment and Mr. Locksley stood in the front of the room, a remote in hand.

"I would like to inform you that there is, indeed, a seating chart."

And then it slowly faded onto the screen, leaving the trio to sigh.

"You have got to be kidding me." Emma muttered under her breath.

"We need Ms. Mills to work with us, you know. No seating charts." Belle gave her blonde friend a wink and Emma knew what that meant.

She chuckled. Regina probably wouldn't mind if she had insisted they needn't a seating chart, or at least have the three of them next to each other if there was one.

She couldn't survive a class without a friend in it, no matter how annoying they might be.

"I'll see what I can do." Emma nudged her before standing to move to her new seat as a student came to claim the one she was currently in.

The blonde huffed, walking across the room to her new seat at the front of the classroom.

She looked over the seating chart and was soon deflated. Belle was somewhere across the room and Killian away from the two of them. It was as if he knew or something.

"Dammit," she huffed and sat back in her desk. Another boring hour to stare at a screen full of rules.

The bell rang fifty minutes later and Emma couldn't get out of there fast enough. She flew down the stairs and straight to the foyer so she could find a spot to stop and check her phone. It was fourth period. Lunchtime.

She hoped Regina had messaged her back. She hadn't exactly been paying attention to what was going on in her pants, though she should be more aware.

Slipping the phone out of her pocket, she checked to see that she _did_ have a new message from her smiley faced sender.

 _ **I have it fifth, like last semester**_ **.**

Oh, great. She was screwed, blued, and tattooed.

Heaving a heavy sigh, the blonde marched herself off to the counselor's office. She might as well get her schedule changed, then, seeing as to how she didn't have anywhere else to go. Emma slowly made her way down the hallway until she had reached the office off to the side.

"Emma! What can I do for you?" Mr. Hopper had immediately greeted, popping from his office. He offered her a friendly smile and she returned it.

"I would like to change my schedule."

"Oh, alright. What seems to be the problem?"

"I want to drop a class for another." Emma shrugged her bag from her shoulder and looked through it until she found her schedule tucked between two notebooks.

"Why don't you come with me?" Mr. Hopper had kindly led her to his office, showing her the chair in front of his desk before he moved behind it. He tapped at his keyboard as she slid the schedule across the desk.

"I would like to change my sixth period, the introduction to computers. Can I switch it for Creative Writing II?" Emma nibbled on her lower lip, watching as he nodded slightly and typed some more.

It would be just her luck if the class was full.

"There seems to be a spot open." He smiled and Emma nearly cried.

"Can I have it?"

"Of course!"

At that moment, the blonde wanted to stand up and dance like she hadn't danced before. She had turned lucky enough to get a damned spot in Regina's class. Hopefully it would be able to slide into her sixth period without screwing up her schedule, though she wouldn't mind a little screwed up schedule if that had meant changing her lunch.

"Alright, I reserved it for you." He smiled and turned to shuffle around with a few folders. Then he pulled out a pink slip of paper.

Emma stared at it.

"I need your parents' signature on this. It's a school policy."

Emma's heart sank. How on earth was she going to get that signed?

The blonde sighed, but nodded and accepted the paper. She folded it up with her schedule and slipped it back into her bag.

"How if that spot gets taken?"

"Like I had said, I reserved it for you so I know not to give it away." He gave her a kind smile. Sometimes he was just _too_ nice and it screwed with the blonde's brain.

Emma nodded. "So, all I gotta do is get my mom to sign this?"

"That and fill out your request, though I already know what you want to do. Just to keep it on record, though." He nodded.

"Alright." Emma stood. "Thanks."

"Anytime, Emma. Have a good day!"

"You too." She called behind her as she floated back into the hallway. Unfortunately, that had only taken ten minutes. She still had a while fifty minutes to kill before fifth period started.

Emma pulled out a pair of headphones from her pocket and brought her phone out as well. She might as well sit out here in the foyer and wait until the bell rang.

There was nothing else to do but wait and think. Maybe she could practice forging her mother's signature. She knew what it looked like by now and, if she tried hard enough, she could practically replicate it.


	23. Donate A Heart For A Home, Today

"Emma!" The brunette teacher blinked in surprise as Emma had found herself inside the English classroom during the second half of fourth period.

It was English II as Emma had noticed when she glanced to the slideshow that glowed in the otherwise darkened classroom. She was late to the class, it being about halfway through the period. It was getting boring just sitting in the foyer by herself with nothing to do. She had long finished forging her mother's signature onto the schedule-change slip.

"I'm sorry that I'm late. I got caught up in the counselor's office." Emma gave Regina a sheepish smile as she handed over her schedule. "I thought your class was so fun, that I decided to become a teacher's aide." She smiled cheekily and Ms. Mills just shook her head, giving her a disbelieving look.

"I've got a pass," she lied, handing over a plain, white sheet of paper that held a note for the English teacher. Emma stood there and watched as the brunette quickly read over the scrawled words on the paper. The blonde bit her lower lip when mocha eyes narrowed.

"Have a seat." Regina nodded, her lips twitching as she tried to muffle the smile itching to break out.

The blonde grinned and retrieved her schedule from the brunette before turning toward the classroom. Her jaw nearly hit the floor as she noticed the room to be full. There was only one seat left available, which was of her luck.

Quietly, Emma made her way over to the empty desk, which was coincidentally placed in front of Regina's desk. Once she had settled into the desk, she glanced around the room once again. Since it was English II, the students in this classroom were all two grades below her.

Emma watched as the teacher headed back to the front of the room, her voice filling the otherwise quiet space and all the blonde's immediate senses. It made her feel warm.

Green eyes skated over the older woman's physique. She still wore the black skirt and red blouse that Emma had awoken to that morning. Her cheeks flushed at the thought of said attire askew as they had made love.

Emma shifted uncomfortably in her desk, sinking low in the chair as her thoughts shot tingles in places they didn't need to be.

Emma nearly groaned to herself at that thought and pressed her legs tightly together. Perhaps she shouldn't do this.

Regina and she wouldn't be able to do anything together. It wouldn't be like their usual lunch where they would be alone, just the two of them to talk about whatever they wished.

Emma was quickly ripped from her thoughts when the door opened, light from the hallway pooling into the room and covering said teacher. The blonde watched the scene in front of her as Ms. Mills, once again, left her post to greet the newest arrival. From what it appeared, it seemed to be another student.

A short, shy-looking redhead with a timid smile and thick-rimmed glasses.

Emma would immediately flag her as a teacher's pet if she didn't know any better.

 _Sorry, Miss Teacher's Pet, but this one's mine._

"Emma, if you could so kindly give Ariel that desk, it would be much appreciated." Regina smiled toward the blonde who had stared right back at her.

"Where am I supposed to sit, then?" Emma squawked rebelliously, but the brunette cast her a look that could kill and nearly had the blonde on the floor.

"You can sit in my desk if you wish." Regina gave the younger woman a heated glare as she had nearly been laying on the floor after squirming so far down in her seat.

Emma's entire face had turned red and she nodded, sliding back up in the desk before gathering her things to move to the teacher's desk.

She slunk down into the comfortable rolling chair, subconsciously grabbing the paper cup off the corner of the larger desk as the redheaded student made her way to occupy the abandoned desk. Emma played with the cup, blinking for a moment after realizing that Regina had coffee. The brunette must have obtained it from the teacher's lounge.

With her eyes on the brunette to make sure she wasn't watching, Emma took a sip of the lukewarm liquid. It was plain, with sugar and cream.

Then she paused when one of the students had caught her, or more so stared at her with an infallible expression. The cup was still against her lips as she froze in the position, green eyes locked with sky-blue. Slowly, she brought the cup back down and set it back on the desk just before that student erupted in a tattle.

"Ms. Mills, she was drinking your coffee."

The brunette's attention snapped to the blonde and she flushed with embarrassment, her cheeks aflame.

" _Emma_ ," Ms. Mills stressed her name, an annoyed look on her face.

Emma bit back a snarky smirk. She knew how annoyed Regina got when she stole a sip or two of her coffee. Who wouldn't really? It was coffee after all.

"Habit. Sorry…" Emma shrank against the office chair when thirty pairs of eyes fell on her.

The blonde's own orbs fell on the class, half of which looked as if they expected bloodshed of some sort. Emma gave an internal grin, and a rather snide one at that. What they didn't know was that she and Regina stole each other's coffee quite often and that's the habit to which she was referring.

"You should be careful of your habits." Ms. Mills warned, giving her one last look before addressing the class on this semester's game plan.

Emma leaned back in the chair, her body easing from its mortified state as the students slowly drew their attention to the teacher. Emma's own gaze landed on the brunette, a simple smile on her face as emerald orbs roved over said teacher's body once again, lingering on her perfect face.

The scar from the car accident remained on her forehead, a soft pink under the coat of foundation that she used to cover it up. The bruise on her nose had been indiscernible with the powder that she had used to conceal it, as well. If one would take a step back and look at her, they would never know that she had been in an accident.

The blonde absentmindedly began to twirl around in the office chair, her eyes falling on Regina's possessions that she had kept on the desk. It was neat and organized, not exactly a surprise. Ms. Mills, after all, was known for her affinity to be neat. And, boy, did Emma ever know that.

Her house was spotless, and she would chew the blonde's head off just for leaving her shoes by the door.

Emma wrinkled her nose fondly at the brunette, who had made eye contact with her in just that moment. And she smiled.

It was beautiful.

 _She_ was beautiful.

"And with that," the teacher announced to the class, breaking contact. "I will have Emma pass out your assignment. It's short and only deals with the vocabulary for this upcoming chapter. You may use your books."

Regina gracefully made her way to the back of the room where the blonde waited with wide eyes. She had started to frantically search through the stacks of papers on the desk for said assignment, almost immediately regretting her decision to act as a teacher's aide.

"They're right here, dear." Ms. Mills' lips quirked as she pointed to a stack that Emma had glossed over.

"I knew that…" The blonde muttered, quickly retrieving the papers so she could pass them out to the awaiting class.

How the hell did she get stuck in this position again?

Emma quickly headed to the first row by the door and started there, hastily throwing a stack of papers on the desk before doing the same to the remaining rows, avoiding the strange looks she received.

Finishing up with the last row, Emma headed back to Ms. Mills' desk to take her spot, only, it was occupied by the woman herself.

"Must I sit on you?" Emma slapped the extra papers on her desk, drawing the teacher's attention to her. She smiled wryly.

"I apologize to inform you that I am, in fact, a human being and not a chair."

"Smart ass," Emma found herself replying before she could stop the words from spilling out of her mouth.

But instead of screaming at her about using such profane language, Regina smirked and made a snarky quip. "Better than being a dumb one."

The students in the class, who had apparently been eavesdropping on the conversation, suddenly erupted with laughter at the comment. It wasn't until then did the blonde realize they had been holding their breaths in silence as they had awaited their teacher's reply just as she had.

"Touché." Emma winked at her, thanking whatever higher deity that her back was to the class. "Seriously though, where do you want me to sit, Ms. I'm-Not-A-Chair-Mills?"

"If you are finished trying to come up with a witty quip, I can snag an extra chair for you tomorrow. At best, for now, you can sit on the floor."

"The floor?" Emma squawked. She narrowed her eyes at the brunette, an expression that told her she was going to pay later.

"Or stand. Whatever suits you." Regina smirked impishly.

Emma grumbled something under her breath and moved to the wall behind Regina, her eyes immediately falling on the little piece of art that she had given her toward the beginning of the year. It was still tacked beside the calendar, standing stark proud on the otherwise barren wall.

The blonde absently smiled to herself and pulled her phone out.

 _You're going to pay for that comment later._

She messaged the brunette and turned around just in time to see Regina's phone light up. Ms. Mills grabbed the small device to check it, immediately whirling around to stare at the blonde.

Emma gave her a mischievous smile.

Regina wrinkled her nose and turned back around with her phone still in hand.

Moments later, Emma's phone lit up to life and she checked the newest message.

 _ **Oh, dear, don't get so hurt over it. I was only trying to help.**_

 _Not my current situation, clearly._

 _ **There is not much time left for this class. You will live.**_

"No," Emma muttered at the brunette's last message. Regina lifted her head and turned to look at her, a soft smile on her lips. The blonde nibbled on her lower lip as she watched the brunette type at her phone.

Another message.

 _ **I'm sorry, Emma dear. I'll be sure to make it up to you when we return home.**_

 _I'm just being a wuss. Don't worry about it._

Emma returned the smile, though the brunette hadn't been looking as she typed another message. The younger woman looked down to her phone, blinking slightly when she had read the newest text.

 _ **I want to kiss you.**_

A soft blush crept onto her cheeks at the thought. She wanted to kiss Regina as well. In fact, if they were alone, she would be doing so.

 _I wish we were alone._

 _ **Unfortunately, your wish cannot be granted.**_

 _You're so agonizing to be around when we aren't alone._

 _ **How so, dear?**_

Emma could laugh.

 _I can imagine everything that I can do to you and remember all the things that I have done. Maybe I got a little too hot earlier thinking about this morning._

Ms. Mills gasped softly, catching the blonde's attention. Emma smirked and looked down at the older woman who stared up at her with a spicy smirk. _Oh no_. She was thinking something up in that pretty head of hers.

 _ **I would ask for you to go into further detail, but class is nearing its end, and I know you aren't so "eloguent" in your spicy messages.**_

Emma huffed and checked the time on her phone. Sure enough, there were only a few minutes until the bell rang. Most of the students were already packed up, eager to get on with the day. She knew how that felt. She was a senior, after all. Life before that were just days merged together, hoping for the next to come and for the current to end.

Emma pushed herself away from the wall and checked the time on her phone once again. One minute left. The students were standing up now, anxiously moving as they anticipated going to the door.

"I would like to see you after class, Emma," Ms. Mills suddenly said, drawing a few of the students' attention towards the two.

Emma blushed. She was sure they were suspecting she was in trouble for her earlier acts, though she knew that wasn't quite the truth. She couldn't hide the grin on her face as she walked the few steps to Regina's desk and stood there, the bell ringing.

"Regina?" Emma leaned against the brunette teacher's desk. The blonde had waited until the last of the students had filtered out to speak to the raven-haired beauty.

The English teacher looked readily up at her, one of those perfectly plucked brows arching in question. "Yes?" She queried, setting her pencil down on top of the stack of syllabus papers.

"I probably won't be staying in here. Y'know, during this period."

"Alright?" She gazed at the blonde through expectant chestnut irises, that damn brow still quirked. "Then why did you come in here today? And rather late, might I add?"

Emma puffed out the breath she hadn't known she had been holding. She pushed herself from the brunette's desk and found herself in her old desk soon enough. She sighed, "I was bored just sitting in the foyer. But I got to thinking over the fact of sitting in here for a period doing literally nothing but being hungry. I wanted to make up for our missing lunches but I know that won't really do much good and I changed my schedule to take your other writing class..."

"Emma, I understand. Besides, I had already figured you wouldn't want to bother sitting in here for that time if we cannot talk. Frankly, I hadn't expected you to come in at all. Although, it was a pleasant surprise." Regina smiled slightly before scooting her chair towards the blonde. She reached for her hands, olive soon mixing with porcelain as she continued. "I'll give you money for lunch if you wish to grab something from Granny's."

"And I can get you something and drop it off before I go to fifth." Emma offered, the idea of it popping into her head at the mention.

"Oh, dear, you don't have to do that..."

"But I want to. Besides, I feel free-loaderish if I just mooch the money for food off you. It's the least I can do and I'll be there anyways." Emma simply nodded. She felt a squeeze on her hands and looked down for a moment, even though she knew the source.

When she gazed back up, she was met with a warm smile and her heart melted. Why did it always seem that Regina could do that to her? She made her feel warm and gooey on the inside like a freshly baked chocolate brownie.

She was never much for the sappy romance, especially when it didn't involve her. But, thinking about it now set off those little butterflies in her stomach. They danced to the rhythm of her heart, their wings fluttering at a rapid pace that tickled her insides and made her nearly want to giggle with joy. The feelings that she had so long resented and suppressed were now at their utmost peak when she was with Regina.

It was something wonderful.

And she never wanted to let it go.

"Emma?" Regina's quirked brow and questioning voice shook the blonde from her thoughts. "Did you hear me, or are you off in La-La Land?"

"I-I'm sorry…" The blonde sheepishly muttered, a soft pink tinting her cheeks; she could feel them buzz with heat. "What did you say?"

"Hm, I thought so." Regina gave her a wry smile before giving her head a slight shake and repeated herself. "I said that I would very much appreciate if you would do that for me. If our mornings start out anything like they had today, we might not have enough time to even think about lunch. And this way, all I have to do is give you some money before we part. Though today was a miss. I'll have to make us something when we return home."

And then she paused, catching herself on the slip.

"Home?" Emma found herself asking, her voice soft – a mere whisper.

Regina lifted her gaze to the blonde, a sheepish smile on her lips as she had realized that Emma had caught her slip. She opened her mouth to speak, but it took a moment before anything had come out.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"No… It's fine." Emma made sure to make her smile reassuring as she gazed back at the brunette through softened eyes. "It's fine. It's… kinda my home now. It has been for a while, though I might've just popped that one up in my head. Anywhere with you, really, is something like home. _You_ are home."

"I am home?" Regina's visage softened incredibly as she tossed the thought in her mind.

"I always feel… You know what it feels like to be at home? Safe. Secure. Away from the bustling world outside. A place where your heart lies- or at least should. That's…" The blonde pursed her lips for a moment and swallowed. "That's how I feel when I'm with you."

Emma was embraced, drowning in a sea of spicy perfume as a part of the brunette's reaction. She was stunned, unable to respond as she sat there awkwardly, trying her best to return the hug, but her arms were trapped under Regina's. So, she sat like a canned sardine and smiled against raven locks.

" _Emma_ ," she whispered softly into golden strands, the reverberation sending chills down Emma's spine. "Is that true? Do you really feel that way?"

"Why would I lie?" The blonde inquired meekly, suddenly feeling like a miniscule spot under a microscope.

"I don't know. You tell me." The brunette tilted her head slightly as she kept her gaze on the blonde in front of her.

Emma blinked slightly, eyes meeting with the older woman's for a moment before shrugging. "I wouldn't."

"Do you feel like you can face the world?" Regina whispered, her lips forming into a watery smile that told Emma she had struck a nerve.

"Yes," she nodded in response to the question.

"And that you can do _anything?_ "

"Anything and everything." Emma smiled softly.

Regina didn't ask a third question, instead, she had brought one of her hands from the blonde's grasp and cupped an ivory cheek instead. Emma tilted her head into the gentle caress of the brunette's thumb and hummed. Her eyes hooded as she enjoyed the tender sensation.

"Good, then we're on the same page." The teacher murmured softly.

"You feel the same?" Emma opened her eyes, emerald orbs twinkling with the echo of her thoughts.

"More than you'd ever think possible, Emma." Regina drew the blonde away from her thoughts, that same watery smile on her lips.

The blonde couldn't exactly believe what was being said, her heart thundering in her ears as the blood rushed to her head. Tears welled in her sparkling, forest eyes.

" _Wow_ …" she whispered, almost inaudibly.

"Wow, indeed, Emma." She said with a gentle smile.

"I'm sorry!" The blonde immediately blurted, her cheeks flushing. "I just… It's unbelievable that you feel this way… about _me_. I mean, I knew it before… but hearing you say the words. Hearing it come from your mouth … It's nice."

The brunette teacher dropped her hand from the blonde's cheek, a darling smile etching itself onto her features. "That's how I feel sometimes, dear. It can be just unbelievable, but I have come to grow used to what you say to me. I've let myself accept them. Embrace them."

Regina released the blonde's hand, the smile still on her face, and turned towards her desk. She pulled out a small pad of papers that had Emma momentarily confused. It wasn't until she had noticed that the stack of papers were those lime green passes did she realize what time it was.

It was fifth period, currently, and she didn't have lunch. She had an actual class, which brought the reality of her semester's schedule back to thought. How Emma absolutely hated the fact that they had switched her lunch.

Whatever it may be, she would survive this semester anyways, right? She was taking a class with Regina, or would be by tomorrow, and she was also living with the woman so to speak. That little fact still had her brain buzzing. She literally just threw herself onto the brunette and forced her to take her in those days ago.

Emma closed her eyes for a hot moment, embracing the darkness that it provided; though she caught a draft of fatigue blowing its way through her mind like a tumbleweed. She tried to dispel the feeling as she reopened her eyes to watch the brunette scribble on the paper.

"And, Emma?" Regina glanced up, catching the younger woman's immediate attention.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad that we met. What do they say? 'You find love in the places you least expect'? Or something of the ilk." She grinned once again, her crimson painted lips spreading wide across her face to show off her pearly white teeth.

"Yeah, I guess that's true. At least, I didn't expect it."

Regina sighed softly, signing her name at the bottom of the pass. Her eyes were averted, leaving Emma unknown to her current emotion. So, she remained silent, brilliant green eyes focused on the pen held between olive fingers.

"I have ultimately given up on caring. I just hope that you don't mind being with an old lady."

"You're not old!" Emma squawked in disbelief. "You're only twenty-seven."

"I will be, dear."

"I still disagree." The blonde mumbled in response.

"That's how you feel now." Regina smiled sadly and ripped the pass off the pad to hand to the blonde. "You'll be singing a different tune when the time comes. And I'll understand."

"When the time comes, I'll love you even more."

The English teacher sighed and shook her head, humming a disbelieving tune. "You'll see, dear. Now you better get along. I already kept you too long from your class."

Emma frowned and stood, not willing to worsen the brunette's mood if it were already. She grabbed her backpack and obliged, taking a step away.

"Have a good day, alright?" Regina spoke before the blonde could take another step, her husky voice causing Emma to turn around. Perhaps she wasn't in a sour mood after all.

"You too. I'll see you after school." Emma kept her gaze on the brunette's bobbing head before turning back towards the door.

Without another word to stop her again, she filtered off into the hallway and went straight to the gym for her next class. Luckily, they don't do anything on the first day, or so she had hoped they wouldn't. She didn't know if she could handle it.

* * *

"I hope no one's going to notice." Emma murmured as they proceeded down the hallway towards one of the doors that emptied out into the faculty parking lot.

"I doubt they will." The brunette reassured the blonde's earlier worry as she opened the outside door and filtered through. Emma followed soon after, though she looked behind her as the glass door closed.

The hallway behind them was completely empty.

Sighing softly in relief, she followed Regina to her Benz parked across the lot. Her eyes were scanning the area around them the entire time. There wasn't another soul in sight.

Though, there was a car in her pelvis.

She groaned as she ran into the back of the Mercedes, Regina chuckling from the side of the vehicle.

"Is your head somewhere up in the clouds, dear?" She quipped as the blonde pushed herself away from the rear of the vehicle and made her way toward the passenger's side door.

Forest eyes, sparkling with a hint of annoyance, glanced up to the raven-haired woman unlocking the door. She narrowed those greens when she heard a stifled chuckle.

"I was just looking to see if anyone else was here." Emma opened her door once it had unlocked and got in.

"Most of the staff don't leave until later the first day back." Regina answered the unasked question as she got her seat belt on and prepared the car to leave. "There's usually quite a bit of paperwork and preparing to do for the week to come."

"Why don't they do it before?" The blonde asked with a quirked brow.

"It's not only the students' break, dear." Regina flashed her a smile before pulling out of the parking spot. "You were with me for most of the vacation. I hadn't necessarily worked, as you had so blatantly discovered."

"Oh, yeah. Sometimes I just forget that teachers are people, too." Emma chuckled thoughtlessly as she looked out the window. "I get so busy with wanting to get the hell away from school and the teachers."

She was met by the sound of the car engine as they made their way down the streets of Storybrooke, heading towards that large house that Emma could almost call her home. The blonde didn't think much of the silence, for it was peaceful just listening to the gentle hum filling the air. The scenery outside was an eyeful with the sparkling white snow twinkling in the afternoon sun and the Christmas decorations that still cluttered many yards.

She was almost so caught up in the sights outside, that she hadn't thought as to why it was so quiet. The teen whirled back to what she had said just moments ago and could nearly hit herself. Here she was talking about teachers and how they weren't exactly people in her mind, or most of the time that was the case, and she was telling this to one of those very teachers.

What was the use of her brain if she wouldn't use the damn thing?

"I'm sorry," she quickly muttered, glancing towards the brunette. Regina didn't pay any mind to the blonde, her eyes locking on the road ahead of them.

"It's alright, dear." Regina murmured, her voice breaking the momentary silence held between their words.

"Are you sure?" Emma inquired as Regina pulled into the driveway.

"Of course." The brunette shut off the car and unbuckled her belt. She turned for a moment to give the blonde a reassuring smile, who in return looked skeptical.

Emma's brows rose at her words as she searched the brunette once again. When she saw no emotion in the creases of her face, she met with mocha eyes. Immediately, she was flushed with a sense of soothing warmth that had her mind set at ease.

"You don't have to apologize, Emma. You know this." Regina chuckled after a moment of silence. The eye contact between the two had broken for a moment as the brunette sought out Emma's hand to take between her own. She hummed softly, olive fingers delicately playing with much paler ones as she thought out her next words.

The blonde smiled absently as she let Regina play with her fingers, despite being in such an uncomfortable position. As soon as the teacher had spoken, she turned to get full view of the older woman. One of her legs had been folded up under her as her back pressed painfully against the door, the handle and its bits digging into her spine.

Regina, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice the blonde's position as she brought her eyes back up to meet with emerald pools.

"You've proven to me just how much of a person I am, dear."

"I hope so." Emma chuckled softly, her cheeks tingling slightly in her sheepish manner.

It wasn't until Emma had shivered from the sudden lack of heat did Regina break their contact and the silence.

"We should get inside before we become frozen meat."

"Right."

Emma nodded and shifted back into a normal position, hissing softly as she did so. The door surely left an indent on her back. She could feel the pain there, and the sudden stiffness that had taken over her body.

 _Just walk it off_.

She tried to ignore it as she grabbed her messenger bag and opened the door. Unfortunately, since her mind had been so focused on the stiffness of her body, she hadn't paid any mind to the freezing temperatures outside. In that case, she hadn't been ready for the sudden rush of bitter cold wind that hit her in the face upon opening the car door.

"Holy mother of cold…" The blonde murmured, opening the door all the way so she could quickly get out. Once standing fully outside, she shut the door and shrunk into herself, arms crossed and teeth chattering.

"It is chilly out here, isn't it?" Regina chuckled from the other side of the car as Emma quickly made her way over to the older woman. The two of them hastily made their way to the front door as the teenager's only response was a string of profanities.

"I really hate winter," she finalized her profane speech and pushed through the door as soon as it had been unlocked. Shivering dramatically, she quickly made her way inside and up the stairs, hoping to get as far away from the cold as possible.

Behind her, she could hear the teacher continue her chuckles, clearly enjoying the show as she followed behind at a far leisurely pace.

By the time the brunette had joined her, sans her coat and purse, Emma was in the middle of the room with her shirt on the floor and her arms crossed over her chest.

"I swear; your bear is watching me." She eyed the little stuffed panda sitting on the bureau.

Regina chuckled and paced toward the blonde, eyes everywhere but the bear. She licked her lips, forcing her eyes to meet with Emma's.

The blonde blushed as she had noticed her current state.

The brunette finally tore her gaze away from the blonde as if she had just remembered her initial exclamation and looked at the little raggedy toy in question.

"You're just silly, dear." Regina grinned with amusement. "It cannot see."

 _It cannot see, my ass._

Emma wrinkled her nose, shot the bear a glare and turned towards the en suite bathroom. "It's not my favorite thing in the world."

"It's a toy, Emma." The brunette kicked her heels off and placed them in her closet as Emma had flicked on the light to the bathroom.

Sighing, she entered the lavatory and headed toward the tub to draw herself the much-needed bath.

Smirking to herself, Emma turned on the taps and stood up once again as the steaming water began to fill the already plugged porcelain. She quickly left the bathroom to collect a fresh outfit for after and a fluffy towel from the hallway linen closet.

But when she exited the bathroom, Regina was standing there wearing nothing but her lace undergarments and a delicious smirk on her face.

"Would you mind if I joined you?" she asked, her voice like pure silk.

Emma could moan just hearing those words slide off the older woman's tongue.

"You're always welcome to." The blonde responded, her eyes wide as she took in her lover's physique.

"Emma?" Emma could hear Regina's smirk twisted within those words, but she didn't look up. Instead, she tortured herself as she let emerald slide down the brunette's perfect, soft skin to the sheer material of the undergarments that covered her most private areas.

"Oh, _gods_ ," she found herself mumbling, eyes traveling further down to the older woman's muscular thighs and briefly thought of them around her.

A fluffy, beige towel was thrown in front of her and she blinked. Finally snapping her attention back up to meet coffee orbs, she smiled sheepishly and took the terrycloth.

"Before the tub overflows, _dear_." Regina smiled sweetly, and _oh_ , she had a teasing twinkle in her eyes that just ate the blonde up.

"Right…" Emma quickly nodded, a blush blooming on her cheeks as she headed back into the bathroom. She made haste with setting the towel on the rack next to the tub and removed the rest of her clothes.

"Would you like some salts for the bath, dear?" The blonde nodded at her lover's words and moved to switch the tap off. She sighed blissfully as the steam from the tub hit her face, already warming her very core.

Or that was from Regina.

Either way, she wasn't complaining. She wasn't cold any longer.

The soft sound of something hitting water roused the blonde from her momentary trance. She glanced up to notice Regina pouring little purple rock-like pellets into the bath.

"Now we're ready. Unless you would like a few candles?" Regina set the little jar of bath salts aside on the counter and grinned down at the blonde.

Emma stood from her spot and shrugged, looking to the candles that lay lined up along the outside of the tub. They were soothing for soaking in the tub, especially when the lights would be off. She bit her lower lip in momentary contemplation before swiftly turning around to flick the light switch off behind her.

The only source of light now was what little sunlight spilled through the curtains of the small window. Emma used that to find her way back to the bathtub where Regina was already lighting the few candles around it. With the last one lit, the brunette set the lighter down and slowly slipped into the tub.

It was then that Emma had finally noticed she had lost the final few scraps of clothing. She must have done that when she had turned off the light.

Or maybe beforehand, but she hadn't exactly been paying attention when thinking about the warmth of the tub. She wasn't going to question it. The older woman was nude now, as was she, and the tub was ready.

The blonde stood at the edge of it, her eyes adjusting to the soft candlelight. It looked peaceful. Romantic, even.

"Are you going to just stand there, dear, or join me in this… lonely bath?" Regina's smirk met Emma's wide eyes.

"Oh, uh, yeah," she mumbled softly and lifted a leg over the tub's edge, careful not to step on the brunette as she slowly got in.

Emma stood there for a moment, awkwardly looking behind her at the expectant brunette. Everything logical immediately fled her mind. Emma was completely entranced by _her_.

Everything about the brunette was stunning. Her brown eyes sparkled and danced in the candlelight. Her tawny skin glowed with a soft sheen of moisture. The steam from the tub rose around her, leaving her in a haze that made it seem like they were in a romantic love scene.

The blonde blushed and finally broke her gaze to settle herself down into the tub. She moaned softly as she submerged herself into the hot, steamy water. It felt a million times better than she'd ever dreamt and the lavender scent that permeated her senses only made it that much better.

After settling fully into the water, she felt arms wrap around her abdomen. Emma smiled, sighing contentedly as she relaxed and leaned back into Regina. She knew that she could stay like this forever.

"There you are, dear." Regina chuckled softly against her ear, chin setting itself on the blonde's shoulder.

"I got distracted."

"You seem to have the distraction bug today." The brunette commented, smoothing a lock of honey curls away from Emma's face.

"I don't know what's up today. It's just…" Emma shrugged and allowed Regina to play with her hair. She shivered slightly as the older woman's fingers slid through her locks, which had the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end.

"Oh, my." Regina kissed the top of her head. "Perhaps you need this bath to relax."

"I know." Emma sighed blissfully.

The brunette teacher chuckled softly, sending vibrations through her body that tickled the blonde's back. Emma grinned and pressed herself back some more, trying to stop the little tickles before she would burst into laughter.

After a few moments, Regina had quieted down, leaving the room void of anything but their breathing. Emma had taken this time to close her eyes, body completely melting as she allowed for herself to eat up the silence. This was what she needed.

 _Oh, yes indeed_.

She hummed softly when she felt Regina's fingers skate across her belly, causing the muscles to tighten. An uncomfortable heat settled in her lower belly as the older woman had danced those digits over her stomach, moving up as they traveled.

"How was your day?" The brunette queried, slowing sliding her hand up to the swell of her chest, soon covering one of the delicate mounds.

Emma's breath hitched at this and she shifted, the thrum between her thighs only intensifying. "It wasn't anything special. In fact, it was boring. Like any other first day back, I guess."

Regina hummed, her head bobbing in response. "These days tend to be rather mundane. But think of it this way, Emma, you're halfway through senior year and after that, you'll be done."

"I'll still have to go to school, though," the blonde sighed unhappily. "But I guess it'll be better."

"Indeed," The brunette chimed, the hand that had cupped Emma's breast squeezed the delicate tissue, producing a soft moan from the blonde. She arched slightly, trying to press herself further against Regina's hand.

"H-How was your day?"

"You saw how fourth period was, correct? That's how my entire day was." Regina paused her movements for a moment before making her kneading motion counterclockwise. "Except for the Creative Writing class that I had taken on. Since they are new to the semester, I was able to change up my routine. Though, it was still rather... _eh._ "

"Did you make the Creative Writing students write a paper about themselves again like you did last semester?" Emma asked, her voice a stressed moan as Regina had continued her ministrations.

The brunette's fingers soon moved to pluck the rosy bud, earning another murmur of pleasure from the blonde. Emma squeezed her eyes shut as the attention shot a heavy dose of arousal to her core. She groaned happily, unable to concentrate on the answer that Regina was giving her as she continued, fingers teasing the nipple between them.

"I was having a few contemplations about that since I had done the same last semester." Regina sighed softly, her other hand dropping from the blonde's hair to fall between milky thighs.

Emma blinked slightly when she saw this and watched the brunette's every movement. Olive fingers teased her inner thighs into opening, leaving her nearly breathless. She could only gasp, emerald eyes focused on the exploring fingers with insatiable interest as they went south, moving to the top of her thigh.

"Though I have acquired students from the other classes." Regina continued to speak even as her hands moved, exploring, taunting.

It was like the weight of the world had been lifted when those lithe fingers moved between her nether lips. She inhaled sharply at the new pleasure exploding through her body and jerked her hips to gain more contact. A husky chuckle sounded above her as those very fingers found the center of her pleasure.

" _Oh, Gina!_ " Emma cried softly into the thick air, her hips bucking against the brunette's hand.

Her mind blanked as she focused it on the pleasure she received. The romantic, cinematic love-scene setting seemed to fade away into what would happen after the screen went black. She didn't care if they had skipped a step in there. Currently her mind was on nothing but the pleasure causing her body to tense as she moved to find the release it wanted.

"But I did have them write a paper over their winter break." Regina whispered into the blonde's ear and, despite the subject, she could feel the heat pool even more between her thighs.

Regina's voice was orgasm material. Sometimes she could just explode upon hearing that deep, husky, and sensual voice. Sometimes it was the only thing she waited for to tip over the edge.

Unfortunately, it hadn't helped her in this state as she writhed slightly and arched against the older woman behind her, whose hands were still working at a vigorous pace. Emma cried out softly when those digits had left their job at the sensitive bundle of nerves to enter her, pumping at a fantastical pace that had her gripping what she could of the tub.

And just as the blonde was reaching the highest point of her pleasure, her hips bucking and her body tingling, she heard a familiar melody echo from the other room.

For a moment, Emma had completely forgot her situation and panicked as she tumbled back down the mountain, completely losing her glorious position. Regina didn't let up, though she made a noise as if confirming the blonde's fears.

That was Mary Margaret calling. Even though it had only been a couple days since their fight, she had the urge to answer her cellphone. She wasn't sure if it was for her momentary confusion or the need to reconcile.

Subsequently, she had tensed slightly and prepared to get out, despite her lover's continued movements. She moaned softly, but Regina had dropped her hand from the blonde's breast to wrap around her waist. The brunette had pulled her back and pressed a kiss to her shoulder.

"Let it ring."

Emma shook her head and grabbed the brunette's arm, pulling it away. "I know that you hate her … But I need to answer. She's still my mom." The blonde shifted slightly and seized Regina's other wrist. "Besides, it kind of ruined it."

The older woman sighed softly and completely released her younger lover. Emma nodded gratefully and stood up, her legs slightly shaky as she lifted each over the tub. Her phone had stopped ringing moments ago, perhaps unfortunately, but she could still call Mary Margaret back.

The blonde quickly picked up her phone from the floor where it had spilled from her bag earlier and searched for her missed calls. Sure enough, Mary Margaret was on top; the display reading that she had called just minutes ago.

Emma shifted the towel she had wrapped around her and headed toward the bed, perching on the edge of the mattress. She exhaled deeply and punched the return call button. As she held the phone up to her ear, she saw Regina emerge from the bathroom, donning one of her terrycloth robes. She wore a sheepish smile as she moved to join the blonde on the bed, her coffee eyes apologetic.

Emma sighed softly and returned a reassuring smile. The other line was still ringing and she was beginning to worry that her not picking up had alerted the pixie-haired woman that she hadn't wanted to talk to her.

Meanwhile, Regina was gazing at her through curious orbs, her brows furrowed as if to silently ask why she wasn't talking. Emma merely shrugged and was about to open her mouth to answer when the other side of the line picked up and Mary Margaret's voice could be heard.

" _Emma! Are you alright? Where are you? I'm worried sick!"_

Emma closed her eyes and breathed at the berating words.

"I'm alright, Mary Margaret." She reassured, feeling a shift in the bed as the brunette beside her moved toward the middle.

The blonde narrowed her eyes slightly as she watched Regina's bum sway in the air as she crawled. She was quickly brought back to reality, though, when she heard her squawking mother on the other end.

" _Thank God I got a hold of you! I was worried. I tried to call the other day, but I didn't get an answer."_

"I don't remember receiving a call." Emma quirked a brow at her mother's words.

" _I haven't heard back from you, either. I sent you messages."_ Mary Margaret seemed to disregard what the blonde had said. Emma rolled her eyes and lay back against the bed. Was she really going to do this?

" _What… I wanted to say, Emma…"_ Her voice was far quieter than it had been before, which had taken the blonde aback. She narrowed her eyes up at the ceiling, awaiting her mother's next words. " _... I'm sorry._ "

Emma's eyes brimmed with tears once she had heard those two simple words.

There was a soft sniffle on the other side of the line as Emma lay there quietly, her eyes still on the ceiling. A single tear had escaped her eye and slipped down her cheek, which had Regina frowning as she moved to give the blonde a concerned look.

She mouthed, "are you alright?"

Emma nodded, sniffled, and spoke into the phone.

"You're sorry?" Her voice cracked, but she cleared her throat to act as if she wasn't breaking. "Why would you even say those things to me in the first place?"

" _Emma, I…_ "

"Do you realize how much that _hurt?_ " Emma sat back up, anger filling her being. "I thought you'd be more accepting. You didn't seem so destroyed when I talked about-"

" _I know I shouldn't have reacted the way I did, Emma. And I'm sorry."_ Mary Margaret paused for a moment. Emma could hear an intake of breath and a masculine voice on the other end, sounding as if it were trying to console her. " _I realize that now and I know that there's no changing you. Emma, honey, I love you for you, and who you are, and I don't care who you like just so long as you're happy._ "

"Do you really mean that?" Emma's throat constricted.

" _Of course I do, Emma. I feel terrible for what I said. I never meant to hurt you. And I understand if you would never forgive me… and if you never want to come back."_

"Mary Margaret…" Emma sighed softly, closing her eyes. "I do forgive you. I don't even know why… but… I just feel the need to. You and David, you two gave me so much. I'd hate to see all that get thrown away. And I'm… I'm glad that you called. It honestly means so much, Mary Margaret." The blonde opened her eyes and smiled. "I love you. I love both you and David."

" _Emma… I hope you know whatever I said, I hadn't really meant it. I was just… shocked, I guess. I didn't expect this and it's something different when it's your own daughter. I've had plenty of time to accept this… maybe not fully, but I will one day. I'd rather not waste the time in between and have you back._

" _I could never send you back into that system, Emma, and I don't know why I ever said that. I love you too much to ever let you go like that. And I can't let you go now. Please come back home, Emma. We miss you."_

Those words had caused Emma's heart to skip a beat, but it still felt as heavy as a stone. "I… don't know, Mary Margaret."

" _Emma, please… I-Is it too soon?"_

"No…" Emma sighed and laid back against the mattress once again. Regina was still on her stomach and had now lifted her head to quirk a brow at the blonde. "I have to think about it. I like my current situation… I don't know."

" _I understand… You are always welcome back, Emma, I want you to know that."_

"I know, Mary Margaret. Just… let me think about it, alright? I'm pretty tired and I had a long day at school…"

" _I'm glad to know that you went. But if you would like for me to let you go, I suppose I will. Talk to you later, alright? And take care… I'm worried about you…"_

"Yes, Mary Margaret. And, I know… Talk to you later."

" _Goodbye, sweetheart."_

"Bye," the blonde sighed and peeled her phone away from her ear to turn off.

Emma flopped onto her stomach and faced the brunette who offered her a tentative smile.

"I assume that your conversation went well?"

"Yeah." Emma wriggled further onto the bed and met her partner's gaze, lips pursing. "She wants me to go back."

Regina's smile faded as she slowly nodded. "Do you want to go back?"

"I don't want to leave you…" she whispered softly, eyes lowering slightly.

"Emma…" Regina sighed, hooking a finger under the blonde's chin. She tilted Emma's head up to meet her gaze. "I do not want you to feel obligated to stay here. If you wish to go back to the Nolans', you can."

"That's the thing, I don't think I want to. Being here… Being here is home." Emma's eyes slid over the brunette's face, her features were everything perfect and her dark hues were something dangerous to get lost in. "I want to be able to go to bed with you and wake up in your arms." Emma whispered, her lips twitching when she saw the teacher's cheeks turn a soft shade of pink. "And I want that every night and every morning. I don't want to see you for just a limited amount of time. That… it doesn't work for me anymore. After I've had a taste of life like this, I don't want to leave it."

Regina's perfect lips curved into the sweetest smile Emma had ever seen. She leaned forward and before the blonde could decipher what was happening, those very lips were covering hers in an equally as sweet kiss. Emma purred softly and felt herself ascend into the clouds as she returned it.

Regina pulled away soon after, lips slightly parted as she took a moment to breathe.

"You are always welcome here, Emma." She grinned lightly, her hand moving to cup the blonde's cheek. Gentle, olive fingers caressing silky, porcelain skin.

"Good… I'll have to tell Mary Margaret, of course, blocking out this little detail…" Emma bit her lower lip, her head turning into the caress as she gazed into muddy pools.

"Before you do that, dear…" Regina pulled her hand away much to Emma's protest and sat up. "We should eat."

And at the very mention, Emma's stomach growled. She had been so busy with everything else, she had completely forgotten that she hadn't eaten. Somehow that had slipped her mind and the gnawing in her stomach had seemed to have disappeared somewhere between bath time and her chat with Mary Margaret.

"I concur." Emma nodded quickly and rolled off the bed. "Let me change first, though."

"While you do that, I will go start lunch. I don't think I can wait another minute." Regina chuckled softly, stood up, and pressed a kiss to the blonde's forehead. "I could eat a horse."

"Let's… not do that…" Emma crinkled her nose and unwrapped the towel.

"We might just have to have dessert afterwards…" Regina murmured, licking her lips as her eyes raked over the blonde's nude body.

Emma blushed and scurried toward her bag to find something to wear. "I thought you were going to make lunch."

"Yes. Right. Lunch." Regina nodded, peeling her eyes away to turn around and go do just that. She paused, though, before leaving the room and asked, "What would you like?"

"At this point, anything." Emma shrugged and picked out a particularly large shirt from her bag.

" _Anything_." Regina nodded and gave her one last smile before leaving the room.

Emma shook her head and laughed. Who knows what the woman was going to make. But she didn't care. In fact, her stomach was doing little flips. This seemed so domestic. She was waiting for her girlfriend to make them lunch in _their_ (well, technically still Regina's) house. It seemed like a dream that she never thought would come true.

Emma grinned softly to herself and quickly donned a pair of undergarments and the overlarge shirt before going downstairs to see just what Regina was whipping up for the two of them.

* * *

"It's about time you joined us." Killian hummed upon Emma's entrance to the English classroom. Her _new_ sixth period, and far nicer than the computer class that she was originally set up for. She had her friends in this class, and of course, there was always the bonus of Regina.

"Mr. Hopper wouldn't let me switch yesterday. I had to get some stupid paper signed." The blonde rolled her eyes as she headed toward her two friends.

They were placed in the back of the room, on the other side of the desk that was next to the teacher's. Emma had talked to the brunette the day before about the seating arrangement. It took a bit of string pulling and button pushing for her to make up the chart how she wanted, but she eventually gave in and did it.

Emma got her old seat back, which meant that she would ultimately be closer to the brunette and her ever teasing presence.

"He does it to everyone." The brunette watched her friend slide into the seat placed next to hers.

Emma shrugged in response, pulling her notebook out of her bag. "It's still stupid."

"They do it to prevent students from switching classes without their parents' knowledge, I think. Just in case a parent wanted their child to take a certain class, but that student doesn't want to-"

"Alright, confusing." Emma held up a hand, shooting Belle a playful stare. "I think I understand it. I just don't see why they're making the seniors do it. Y'know, most of us are eighteen and perfectly capable of making adult decisions."

"Apparently, the school board doesn't agree." Killian added his two cents, his furry brows raised.

"The school is stupid. It's all stupid. I'm so glad that we're almost done with it." Emma grumbled, flipping through the notebook on her desk to a new sheet of paper. "Did you guys do something yesterday?"

"Oh, we wrote about our winter break." Belle nodded, pulling out her own notebook. She had soon flipped to a page covered in writing, titled ' _My Winter Break_.'

"Is there a paper for it?" The blonde looked to her male friend to see him doing the same, though he had the paper torn out. Or papers. "Holy crap. How long is it supposed to be?"

"The minimum was one page, dear." Ms. Mills slipped a piece of paper on her desk.

Emma glanced up at the brunette's wide smile. "Everyone's writing so much, though."

Surely Regina wasn't going to appreciate that later. Neither would Emma because she knew that she'd have to be the one sitting next to her, waiting as she read and graded each one of them. Maybe she should make hers just that one page.

"That's what happens when creativity is unleashed." The brunette teacher gave a nonchalant shrug, but Emma had a feeling she was screaming several profanities on the inside.

"I'll be sure to make mine short for you." Emma grinned slightly, eyes dropping to the paper that Regina had given her moments earlier. It was the basic criteria for writing a paper with the simple prompt and expectations.

"You don't need to, Emma," the brunette continued, moving to take a seat in her desk as the bell finally tolled. She picked up a pen and played with it, making the slender object slide between her fingers. "I know just how creative you can be."

Emma could feel the heat rising to the surface of her cheeks when the English teacher had said those words. In context, it was a simple and innocent statement. But out of context, and with that smirk that she was giving the teenager, it was far away from what it was meant to be.

The blonde nearly blinked at the thoughts running through her mind. Even the simplest statement – one that didn't necessarily make sense enough to be naughty in her book – still got her hot and a bit bothered.

Emma made a slight noise, covered by a forced yawn as she tried to pass it off as such.

Regina was long to the front of the room by now, discussing the plan for the day. She paced the floor, each movement causing the beige slacks she wore to tighten around her plump posterior. Emma couldn't remove her eyes from the ass that she had seen this morning before those slacks had been put on. And she couldn't stop imagining the purple, satin panties that were hidden underneath.

The blonde swallowed thickly and tried to block off all thought from entering her mind. She focused in on listening to what the English teacher was currently addressing to the class. Ms. Mills' liquid voice drenched her like a honey bath.

"I am going to give you today to finish up your assignments from yesterday. If you have already completed them, you may hand them in and start reading up on the next chapter. If you do not have it completed, I would appreciate for you to get them finished, or else they will have a late penalty if not turned in by the end of class." Regina's mocha hues traveled over the expanse of the classroom, lingering momentarily on the blonde before she forced a smile on her crimson lips. "If you have any questions, please, do ask without hesitation."

There was a pause as the students all sat, unblinking as they stared at her. She shifted a bit when no one raised their hands and continued. "You may turn in your assignment to me. I will be at my desk. If you have any questions later about the assignment, you may ask."

"Awkward," Killian chuckled and slid out of his desk as the brunette teacher had made her way back to her own desk. The teenage boy quickly turned in the assignment before heading back to his desk once again.

"I can't believe how people could write so much about their winter vacation." Belle's voice brought the blonde out of her impending thoughts.

"I don't know," she murmured to fuel her friend's thought.

"How interesting could they be? All I did was sleep, eat, and hang out with you guys. Not the most exciting thing." Belle shook her head, watching as a few students went to turn their papers in to Ms. Mills.

Emma watched as well, blinking when she saw one boy hand in a neat, thin stack of papers. How many was that? Was this boy trying to write a novella over his winter break? She felt sorry for Regina at this point. She had troubles reading over just one student's work when they had to do peer reviewing.

"Did you see that guy's?" Emma queried, turning back to Belle with wide eyes.

"It's like he's trying to publish a novel over there." Killian chuckled, looking up from his doodle. Emma nodded in agreement and rolled her eyes.

"It's ridiculous."

"Emma, _shh_ …" Regina popped her head up to look at the blonde, a brow quirked. "Don't make me send you to the office."

"Sorry…" Emma muttered, wrinkling her nose at the brunette teacher.

Belle laughed, their male friend soon joining in.

"You got told by the teacher."

"Oh, shut up." Emma hissed, bringing her attention to the blank sheet of notebook paper that she was supposed to be writing on.

"You're just cranky because you got told to shush." Killian smirked, but he was soon shushed as well by Ms. Mills, who had glared up at the three of them.

"I will place you in the front of the room and well away from me if you are going to continue with your incessant talking."

"Sorry…" Belle and Killian quickly muttered their apology.

"Thank you. Now busy yourselves. _Quietly_."

"Ha-ha." Emma sneered at the two of them, making a face.

"Oh, shut it." Belle muttered into her book.

Emma merely chuckled before going back to her paper. What the hell was she going to write about? Her winter break, of course. But Regina already knew what she did. It'd probably be boring for her to read over once she got to it after thirty more beforehand. Perhaps she could write something more interesting. Something twisty and fictional.

The blonde smirked as an idea popped into her head and began to quickly jot down what was boiling on the surface of her mind.

* * *

"Emma, what the _hell_ is this?" Regina held up a notebook, eyes boring holes into the blonde's skull as if to break an answer out of her.

"It's my winter break story." The blonde smiled innocently from beside the brunette and popped a chip into her mouth.

The two of them were stationed in the sitting room, papers were strewn across the coffee table as the brunette read through them, a red pen in hand. She wore her thick, black-framed glasses and a pair of fluffy, panda pajama bottoms with a matching t-shirt. Emma sit beside her wearing something almost similar, though her pants had little skulls wearing Santa hats.

She held onto a few select assignments that she was in the middle of reading when the brunette had interrupted her. Emma had quickly dug out Killian's and Belle's papers to give them a quick read-through before the brunette would check them. She was curious as to what her friends had to say, and she was amused thus far with Belle's.

Emma was in it, yes, but so was Ruby. Ah, yes, Belle's newly discovered girlfriend and it was adorable what she was saying about the oldest brunette. She was dancing around the subject of their relationship, making it appear as if they were just good friends. The blonde could laugh.

Apparently, she and Regina weren't the only ones keeping their relationship a secret.

Regina hadn't read through their papers yet, though, since Emma had immediately pulled them from the stack to read over first. After reading Belle's, though, she had the urge to blurt out about her and Ruby's relationship. She wanted to see Regina's reaction over that fact after she will have read the paper.

But Belle's and Ruby's relationship was their own secret. She was sworn not to tell anyone and she would keep it like that. If Regina so happened to assume based off reading and Emma so happened to confirm, that wouldn't be breaking anything, right?

"What on earth are you doing with those?" Regina had quickly forgot about the notebook in hand as she finally noticed the papers that Emma held and was so clearly amused about reading.

The blonde stared at her, a sheepish smile on her lips. "I just wanted to read them."

"Haven't I told you not to do that?" The older woman tried to grab the papers, but Emma moved them out of her reach.

"Don't worry. They're only Belle's and Killian's. I'm sure they don't care. They'd let me read them, anyways." Emma shrugged, but the brunette didn't relent as she carefully set the notebook down and crawled across the blonde's lap to reach for the papers. She blinked slightly at the sight, smirking in thought.

As Regina lay awkwardly over her, one hand planted firmly on the couch cushion beside Emma as the other reach for the papers in her hand, the blonde wrapped an arm around her waist. The brunette collapsed, gasping in surprised as she hit Emma's lap with a thump.

"What are you-"

"Usually I'm the one who's frisky." Emma smirked.

Regina let out a puff of air and squirmed to sit up. Emma allowed her to turn onto her back, but she hadn't released her enough to let her get away. Instead, the blonde merely tightened her grip and lowered her head towards Regina's. Her pale, pink lips curled into a devious smile as the brunette stared at her, nose slightly crinkled and brows furrowed.

"I am _not_ being frisky." Regina huffed and struggled against the blonde's grip. "Now, come on, Emma. I need to finish reading through these assignments."

"What do I get?" The blonde cocked her head to the side, eyes still on the struggling brunette.

"I'll let you keep those. Just… let me go."

Emma grinned wryly. "What's the magic word?"

" _Please_!" Regina paused suddenly, a look on her face that had the blonde immediately release her. "Thank you," she sniffed and sat up, whatever emotion that had haunted her now gone.

Emma narrowed her eyes slightly, then quickly pulled the brunette against her before she could slide off her lap. She could feel the teacher tense for a moment, but she soon relaxed upon realizing that the blonde didn't have such a tight hold on her this time.

The blonde smiled lightly, her eyes closing as she inhaled Regina's sweet fragrance. Emma hummed softly and leaned forward, her hand gently stroking Regina's side as her lips met with olive skin.

The teacher sighed blissfully, allowing this moment of weakness as she let the blonde taste her. One of her hands had found itself on the blonde's cotton clad shoulder and squeezed when Emma had made her way up the column of her neck.

" _Emma_ …" she whispered softly, head turning to face the blonde.

Emma pulled away enough to meet chestnut eyes, shimmering and dark. With a soft smile, she leaned forward to capture the older woman's lips with her own in a sweet, gentle caress. Regina gasped softly, the hot air teasing the blonde's tingling lips. She smiled even wider and dove back in to kiss the brunette once again, humming when Regina had returned it. Her lips pressed firmly into Emma's, earning a soft moan.

The blonde couldn't be bothered to pull away as she tilted her head and went for another kiss, her lips parted. Regina had eagerly returned it, crimson lips sliding against pink, coating them with her lipstick as they repeatedly moved against one another.

Emma's breath shallowed, the forgotten papers in her hand had now been dropped onto the couch beside them as she wrapped both her arms firmly around the brunette's petite body. Said brunette had shifted her position, her legs on either side of the blonde's hips and her hands holding both of Emma's cheeks in place. The blonde only groaned more, the once dull ache between her thighs as intensified to something almost insatiable.

Emma missed Regina's next kiss as she turned her head to the side to speak, the older woman's tongue awkwardly ramming into her cheek.

" _Touch me…_ " she whispered, kissing the brunette's cheek before going back in for another kiss.

And like clockwork, Regina had abided her simple request, hands falling down the blonde's sides in a teasing manner. Emma's breath hitched anxiously, her hips gently bucking forward once again. She could already feel the brunette's fingers touching her, inside and out; and it wasn't long until that fantasy became reality and she saw stars.

"There you go…" Regina smirked, pulling away from the blonde's lips as her fingers slowly moved within the blonde's quivering body.

Emma gasped, still clutching to Regina as she slowly came down from her climax. It was a beautiful thing seeing the brunette's smiling face as she opened her eyes, warm coffee staring right back at her.

"I hope that was satisfactory." Regina hummed lightly, pulling her fingers from the blonde and her hand out of those fluffy pants, soon wiping her fingers on the material. She leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Emma's red, swollen lips.

"It was…" The blonde tried to catch her breath and nodded. "We've got to take it slow someday."

"Don't worry, angel, we will." Regina chuckled softly, using the back of her knuckles to caress Emma's cheek. "But, currently, I have to finish up with these assignments. It's getting late and I don't think we want to be too tired in the morning."

"Of course not." Emma shook her head and watched as the brunette shifted to sit beside her. Regina fixed her glasses, which had become askew at some point, and snatched up the notebook that she had abandoned before their short session.

Emma looked at the older woman who went straight back to reading the paper and frowned.

Shifting slightly, the blonde brought a leg up under herself and leaned closer to the brunette. Regina slid closer to the blonde, allowing Emma's hand to wrap around her shoulders, but made no other move. Emma frowned again.

"Gina-"

"You never answered me on what this was." Regina glanced up, pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. "This isn't your vacation. It's… It's _porn_."

"It's not _porn_." Emma huffed softly, eyes falling on the paper. She smirked at the scene that Regina was currently reading.

"Then what do you call describing sexual activity in writing?" Regina glanced up.

"What happened is true." She shrugged. "What's the big deal?"

"It's inappropriate, Emma. That's the big deal." The brunette teacher lifted the notebook. "You… you described what happened on Christmas."

"I'm sorry." Emma quickly murmured. "If it makes you feel uncomfortable… I just thought I would do this, using the pseudo names for us. It would be different since you already know how I spent my winter break."

"It's…" Regina nibbled on her lower lip as Emma quirked a brow. "It's very interesting."

"Is it hot?" The blonde smirked, kissing Regina's cheek. "Are you getting, dare I say, aroused?"

"Even more than I already was, dear," the brunette breathed, lips parting.

"Why don't you continue to read it?" Emma whispered, laying her head on the brunette's shoulder. Her hand rest on the brunette's lap, next to the notebook that she still held.

"I can't read this out loud." Regina mumbled, staring at Emma incredulously.

"Then read it in your head." A pale hand inched its way under the fluffy panda pants and to her awaiting heat.

A soft moan tumbled from the brunette's mouth as the blonde teasingly ran her fingers along the slick flesh, dipping occasionally between lips.

" _Oh_ , Emma." Regina's hips shifted, grinding against her hand.

"Read," the blonde quietly instructed and she nodded, whisky eyes focused on the words that Emma had written. The younger woman smirked, head still on the brunette's shoulder as she read along with her, fingers seeking out the delicate bundle of nerves.

Regina nearly cried out when Emma had found it, breaking her concentration on the reading for but a moment before she went back, two of her digits circling Regina's clitoris in tight motions.

"I-I don't think I can concentrate, dear," Regina moaned, hips bucking up against Emma's and as she continued with her movements.

"That's fine," Emma purred, making her strokes faster until Regina's moans were filling the void air, her breathing hard and ragged.

Emma smiled absently, watching the myriad of expressions cross over her lover's face. She looked stunning when she was in pleasure. Watching Regina was something that the blonde had always enjoyed. It was perfect.

" _Emma!_ " Regina's shrill cry echoed through the room and Emma smirked, her pace still going steady as the older woman had achieved orgasm. Her body shook and her hips ceased their movements as she rode it out with the blonde's help.

Emma held Regina close to her, fingers slowing their pace now as the brunette had slowly fallen from her high. Her breath was shallow as she laid against Emma, her body shuddering still with the aftermath of her pleasurable flight.

Emma quickly slipped her hand out of the older woman's bottoms and sat there for a moment, holding Regina's shaking frame close to her. She smiled. She was lucky. She brought this perfect woman to a beautiful release. It was something not many people could have the pleasure of doing.

"Recreating porn." Emma whispered, giving the older woman a squeeze.

"Not exactly, dear." Regina chuckled, closing the notebook before she slowly pulled away from Emma. The teacher leaned forward to grab another paper and brought it back with her. "Now, I must get these finished."

"I know," she mumbled, retrieving Belle's and Killian's assignments to continue reading. "At least you can do it more comfortably."

"Indeed," Regina crooned, shifting into a new position as she began to read through the newest paper in hand.


	24. The Foundation That Has Crumbled

The month of January had been rather mundane. Each day blurred together as she neared the end of the school year. Her time with Regina seemed to be the only thing that made it seem possible. If she were without that woman, this time would be just as it was last year. It would be a day where she'd wake up only to want to go back to sleep for the next day to come.

That's all she wanted to do. She just wanted to sleep the days away. She wanted the last day of school to come. The only things she'd really miss about this little town would be her friends and parents.

She had told Mary Margaret that she was happy in her current living situation. Her mother was let down at this news when she had told her. Of course, Emma had felt guilty about this. The Nolans had taken care of her for two and a half years, after all. Which was why she had agreed to visit them often.

She visited them at least twice a week and she occasionally stayed over on the weekends. It was odd to be away from Regina, but once she had clicked back into the family life with David and Mary Margaret, it hadn't been so bad.

Today was supposed to have been one of those days that she would go visit the Nolans. It was the first of February and normally she would have gone straight over after school, but she had different plans.

It was Regina's birthday.

Emma wanted to spend the full day with the older woman and that's just how they were going to have it. She had already told her parents that she couldn't make it over today since there were special plans for someone's birthday. She was thankful that they didn't argue over the subject, though she had bargained to spend tomorrow with them instead.

Emma didn't necessarily have too much planned for Regina's birthday. She was going to play it by ear. Once they would get home, she was going to give Regina her birthday gift, which was hard to acquire since the two of them were together almost constantly. But she had managed to sneak out one day while the brunette was napping and nab a gift from the store that she had seen a while back.

Emma had bounced out of the car as soon as they had arrived home and ran to the door, leaving a chuckling Regina in her wake. She pulled her key to the front door out of her pocket and unlocked it, only to rush inside and upstairs to where the gift awaited.

"Where do you want me, dear?" Regina called out from downstairs as the blonde hurriedly dropped her bag and coat off in the bedroom.

"In the living room is fine!" Emma giggled anxiously, the smile on her face wide as she rushed to the closet in the hallway.

She wasn't sure if the brunette would be aware or not of where she had hidden it, but Emma had blurted out to the older woman that she had bought her a gift, much to Regina's dismay. She couldn't keep her trap shut long enough to make it a surprise, but so long as Regina hadn't found her gift before today, it still would be somewhat of one.

"I'm coming! Close your eyes!" Emma shouted from the top of the stairs, the bag that held the brunette's gift in hand.

"Alright, dear." She heard Regina's lyrical laughter echo from the living room.

Emma had hurriedly made her way down the stairs and to that very room in a matter of moments. Regina was sitting on the couch, eyes closed as she awaited whatever surprise that the blonde had in store for her.

"You can open them!" Emma stood in front of her, holding out the bright red gift bag.

"Oh! I've always wanted a bag." Regina smirked, grabbing the bag from her girlfriend.

"Oh, _hardy har har_." The blonde sneered and sat next to the brunette, watching her through anxious eyes. "Open it!"

"Alright…" Regina chuckled and opened the bag, blinking when she saw nothing but tissue paper. With a soft huff, the brunette picked out a piece of the balled-up tissue and tossed it aside, only for the doorbell to ring.

" _Seriously_?" Emma glared into the foyer. She gave a petulant pout when the brunette stood up, setting the unopened gift down to answer the door.

"I'll be back, dear." She hummed and swiftly left the room, another dingdong from the door sounding.

"Stupid people…" Emma sighed softly, leaning back against the couch. Her eyes slid around the room that she had been in so many times. She wouldn't mind packing up the entire mansion and wheeling it off to Boston.

"Mother? What are you doing here?"

Emma quickly perked up at the sound of Regina's voice. _Mother?_

Cora was here?

After an exchange of words, she could hear a pair of footsteps approaching, followed by a rapid pair of heels.

So, Emma had scrambled out of her seat as if it were on fire and ran. She didn't bother to pay attention to where she was running to, no. She opened the first door in sight and stepped through, quietly closing the door behind her.

Unfortunately, she found herself in a small broom closet, but it was better than being seen by Cora. Oh, she would hide in a closet if it meant saving her relationship with Regina, even if she were slightly claustrophobic. She'd be willing to go anywhere and do anything if it meant just that, however ironic this was.

Emma sighed softly and stepped away from the door, only to ram the back of her head right into a shelf. The pain wasn't anything as she jumped slightly, hands raised in the air against the shelf. A soft " _shh_ " fell from her lips as she stared with narrowed eyes in the dark air, assuming that's where the shelf had been. She was more worried about the noise that it had made than anything.

She couldn't risk getting herself exposed, even if she were down the hall and surely far enough away from the sitting room to be heard.

Emma carefully ducked her head down as she moved to press herself against the wall, slowly sliding down it. Unfortunately, that had triggered the broom to fall on her, making another loud rustle as it collided with another object that the blonde had assumed was the mop. She scrambled to keep them from knocking anything else over and held them close to her, staring wide-eyed at the door as if expecting it to pop open any moment.

"Stupid broom..." she muttered softly under her breath, something barely a whisper as she pushed the two household tools onto the floor in front of her.

Emma lay her head against the wall behind her, an exasperated sigh falling from her lips. She was stuck in here for who only knows how long. It was dark, small, and getting rather warm. Sooner or later, she would have to get the hell out of here before she thought too much about the enclosed space and panicked.

Perhaps she should tell Regina where she went. The brunette could distract her mother long enough for the blonde to get the hell out of Dodge and find a larger room to hide in, more preferably a bathroom.

Emma squirmed a bit and pressed her legs together as her bladder complained. Normally the blonde didn't use the restroom at school and today was no exception. She hadn't bothered to use it upon arriving home in the excitement of Regina's birthday. She wanted to get that damned present to the older woman before anything else.

Of course, now that the blonde had thought about it, she regretted it more than anything.

For the sake of her full bladder, Emma quickly pawed at her pocket to retrieve her phone... only to find that it was empty.

" _Shit_..." she breathed. It must have fallen out on the couch.

* * *

"I told you there wasn't anyone in here." Regina looked around the sitting room as she had followed her mother inside, the butterflies rapidly fluttering about had fallen to the pit of her stomach when she had noticed Emma was gone. She knew the blonde would be smart enough to evacuate before Cora could see her.

"Then why insist I not come in here?" The older woman turned to her daughter, a soft smirk on her lips, though there was something that of disappointment in her eyes as if she had been expecting something.

Of course, it didn't take a rocket scientist to know of her disappointment. She was hoping Emma would be in here so she could say that she had caught her daughter red-handed.

"What's this?" Cora queried, drawing the brunette teacher from her thoughts.

Regina glanced up from her spot in the doorway, only to notice that her mother was no longer in front of her and had made her way to the couch where she and Emma had been only minutes before. She had noticed that her mother was holding the red gift bag that Emma had given her.

"It's a gift, Mother." Regina pushed herself away from the doorframe and stalked across the room to rip the bag from the older woman's grasp just before she was about to look inside. "And I would appreciate it if you were to not snoop through my personal items."

"What is it?" She asked, quirking a brow at the bag before lifting her whiskey gaze to meet with Regina's.

The teacher rolled her eyes, setting the bag onto the coffee table. "I don't know. I hadn't had a chance to open it yet."

"Who gave it to you?" Cora's question was asked directly after her daughter had finished speaking. The younger brunette narrowed her eyes. Her mother was never one for subtlety.

"That is none of your business, Mother-"

"Is it from your _girlfriend_?" The last word was a sneer as she took a step forward, moving into Regina's personal space.

"What are you doing here, _Mother_?" Regina avoided answering the question, her gaze faltering.

Cora had been so insistent on trying to get into Regina's house that she had avoided the question upon her arrival. Though, she had answered now with a grin that Regina knew was all too fake. "Can I not visit my daughter on her birthday?"

"Since when do you give a damn about my birthday, Mother?" Regina hissed. "When was the last time we spent the first of February together?"

"Oh, darling, don't be like that…"

"I know you're playing bullshit. _Why_ are you here, Mother?"

"Like I had said, I only wanted to visit you. I have a… gift for you." The older woman's lips curled into a tight-lipped smile.

Regina clucked her tongue, knowing that there was more to her mother's visit than her petty excuse. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end the more her mother grinned at her, those eyes sparkling with knowledge. " _Mother_ …"

"I'm _dying_ , Regina. Just let me spend time with you."

Oh. She pulled that card directly out of her ass. Regina could literally _smell_ the pile of shit reeking from her mother's mouth. That woman had something up her sleeve and it was only making Regina all the more anxious to get Emma away.

"Regina? Are you even listening to me?"

"What?" Regina shook her head, Cora's question shaking her from her worried thoughts.

"I swear to Gods, child, sometimes I wonder if you are even worth the trouble." Cora's eyes narrowed on her daughter before she moved from her spot. She paced over to the television, her fingers sliding across the surface of it as Regina watched her every movement through wary eyes.

"As I was saying, I will be in town for a few days. I would like to spend them with you before I take that special trip to hell." Cora turned, giving her daughter a soft smirk. "Perhaps I will be lucky enough to meet… the woman that seemed to have stolen your heart."

"Not a chance, Mother." Regina shook her head, her gaze falling to the couch for a moment. She moved to gaze back to her mother, but something had caught her eye. Something that she hadn't seen there before.

It was Emma's cell phone.

Regina smiled at her mother, moving to stand in front of the phone so the older woman wouldn't see it.

The older woman had noticed her daughter's strange behavior, though she hadn't said a thing as she merely shook her head and proceeded towards the door.

"I will be staying with you." She paused for a moment, looking back at Regina with a wide smile. A smile too wide for the brunette teacher's liking. What was this woman up to?

Then Cora's words hit her like a hand upside the head.

She was going to be staying here?

Sudden panic flooded the brunette and her eyes went wide.

"I will grab my things from the car." Cora hummed before disappearing out of the room. Moments later, the front door clicked shut and Regina was moving through the house to find Emma.

"Emma?" She shouted, her dark orbs searched the halls and each room, opening closed doors in search for the blonde teenager. Where on Earth was she?

"Emma? Are you still in here?"

"Yes!" Regina stopped suddenly when she heard the blonde's response, relief and dread both flooding through her. She quickly looked down the hall where she heard Emma's voice and saw her stumble out of the broom closet, the mop following after her.

"I have to pee." The blonde stared at her with wild eyes before shooting off to the bathroom just down the hall. Regina chuckled softly and quickly followed her, entering the bathroom with the blonde.

Emma was on the toilet as Regina closed the door behind her.

The blonde just looked up at her expectantly, a look of worry on her face.

"My mother wants to stay here for a few days." Regina blurted immediately, leaning against the wall across from her, nibbling on her lower lip.

"Should I leave?" Emma gazed up at her, frowning.

"I don't want you to leave," Regina said, looking down. "You live here now and I do not feel that it is right if I were to force you to leave. But-"

"But you don't want your mother to find out about us." Emma murmured, finishing the thought that the brunette teacher was leading up to. "I understand that, Gina. And I will leave to protect us."

"Emma, I regret having to do this."

"So long as I can come back after she leaves. Besides," she murmured, gazing up, forcing a hopeful smile on her face, "we can still see each other at school. Maybe you can stay after and we can spend some time with each other?"

Regina smiled softly at Emma's reassurances and nodded, her heart squeezing in her chest. "Gods, I love you, Emma."

The smile that Emma had given her had completely melted her heart, forming it into a puddle at her feet. "I love you, too, Gina."

The brunette teacher sighed happily and closed the distance between them, bending to capture the blonde's lips with her own. Emma gasped underneath her, though she felt her arms wrap around her waist as she pressed herself up into the kiss. Their lips moved to a perfect beat, though it hadn't lasted long when Cora's voice rang through the large house.

" _Shit_ ," Emma murmured, staring up at Regina with those large, green eyes. "What the hell am I gonna do?"

"I-I don't know…" Regina pulled away and paced about the small lavatory.

"I guess I can hide out in here for a while… At least it'll be better than the broom closet?" Emma offered, giving her a sheepish smile. "Though, I left my phone somewhere…"

"It's right here." Regina quickly pulled said object out of her bra, handing it to her lover. She had grabbed it before going on her search for the blonde earlier.

"Thanks for the gift of boob phone." The blonde gladly took the object.

"I can message you when it will be safe for you to come out." Regina glanced to the door worriedly as her mother's voice had grown louder.

"I'm in the bathroom! Almost done, Mother." She called toward the door, her voice lowering when she spoke to the blonde in a hushed whisper. "I will try to keep her away from this bathroom, alright? I am so sorry that I have to put you through this…"

"Don't sweat it, Gina." Emma offered her a smile. "I'm doing this because I love you and what we have. I will do anything to protect that, even if that means hiding in a broom closet or a bathroom."

Regina let out a strangled laugh and pressed a kiss to the blonde's forehead. "I truly do love you, Emma."

"Good." She beamed. "Though, are you really going to kiss me again on the toilet?"

The brunette paused, midway through planting another kiss on Emma's lips. She offered her a sheepish smile and shrugged. "I do not care where you're at, my duck."

"Well, do me a favor, don't fuck me and make us known to your mother." Emma gave her a wry look, leaving Regina to playfully hit her arm.

"I will message you when it's safe." Regina pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. "Now, get off the toilet and flush it for my mother's sake."

"Alright!" Emma finished her business and quickly moved to wash her hand. "But you owe me for this."

"I will do anything." Regina hummed with relief, moving to wrap her arms around Emma from behind. She set her head on the blonde's shoulder, making eye contact with her through the mirror. "Just not right now because, knowing my mother, she will beat the door down if I don't get out of here soon."

"I wish you luck with your mother." Emma leaned back against her.

"Thank you." Regina quickly kissed her cheek before pulling away and heading toward the door. Without another word, she opened it and slipped out, relieved when she found that the hallway was empty.

"Are you out, Regina?"

"Yes, Mother." The brunette made her way back to the living room where her mother stood with her bags. Clearly she hadn't taken the liberty to put her belongings into the guest room. "Are you planning on staying in the sitting room?"

"Oh, this…" Cora chuckled, though it lacked any humor as she glanced down to her bags before gazing back up to her newly-arrived daughter. "I was worried about you, darling. I couldn't seem to find you when I had first entered."

"Well, I am here and I am fine. You can take the guest room that you usually do." The brunette teacher had made her way to the older woman, her arms extended as if to shoo her away to do just that.

Though, Cora didn't seem to have it as she remained in her spot, darks eyes casting a malevolent gaze upon her daughter. "What is the rush, my love?"

Regina faltered, her brows furrowed. "I had only figured that you would want to settle in before we do anything else." The ever-growing suspicion in her mother's eyes had intensified, sending a panic signal to Regina's brain.

Cora's eyes narrowed as if she were contemplating what the younger brunette had said, and Regina thought she was going to call her out on it before she burst into a smile and nodded. "Of course, Regina. It would give us more time later to spend together."

Relief filtered through her slowly, because she may have curbed her mother's suspicions for now, but she knew that they were still there. She had to pursue her acting skills and pretend to be calm, despite the ever growing worry gnawing at her brain.

"Indeed." She nodded in agreement, gesturing toward the bags. "Shall I help?"

"I can manage by myself." Cora said, picking both her luggage bags up with a smile that pricked the very hairs on the back of Regina's neck. "Why don't you make us a snack? I am rather peckish after the flight."

"But dinner will be soon-" She had tried to argue, hoping that it would bring her mother's mind from the idea, though Cora had interrupted her before she could further protest.

"We can have a late dinner out." Cora let the smile on her face only curve wider. "My treat."

"But, Mother…"

" _My treat_." She had repeated in a tone that implied no further argument.

Regina sighed in defeat. No matter what she would do to argue, her mother would win. Cora had always won, but she never played fair.

"What would you like for a snack, then, Mother?" She gritted her teeth.

Cora smiled, moving towards the door with her daughter hot on her trail. "Good girl. Why don't you make us a couple of sandwiches? That could tide us over until then, yes?"

"Of course, Mother." Regina nodded, a grin on her face. Sandwiches were simple to make. She could half-ass them before her mother would finish putting her things away upstairs.

Everything seemed to be going according to the plan that Regina had made mere moments before. Her mother was already on the first step in the foyer as Regina had paused to look up at her. She would be sure to see her mother up before she would ever go in to make their snacks.

"Any specific kind?"

"Any would do." Cora returned the polite grin that her daughter had given her, ascending another step. "Now be quick with it. I hadn't eaten yet today."

"Of course, Mother." Regina abided, watching as her mother had made her way to the top landing before heading off to the kitchen.

"Perhaps I am just paranoid." The brunette mumbled to herself as she collected the items needed to make the sandwiches her mother had requested.

But before she had started preparing them, she pulled her phone from her pocket and scrolled through to find Emma's name in her messages. The blonde couldn't leave just yet without risk, but she could be informed of the dinner out later as a means of escape. Just hopefully the teenager would be alright for a few hours until then.

Regina's heart sank as she began to type out the message of the plans for later. She felt horrible that she had to force Emma to stay holed up in the smallest bathroom of her own home. Quickly, she typed a second message, knowing all too well of her mother's antics.

 _Also, my_ _mother is out of my sight. I trust that she is upstairs unpacking, but I cannot be sure. Watch out in case. Use the shower to hide if she tries for the bathroom._

Setting the phone aside, she felt some of the tension relieve itself. The warning that she had given Emma seemed to have eased her to some extent.

The house was quiet.

Regina got to putting the second sandwich together when her phone buzzed, flashing to life with a new message. Grinning, she picked the device up and read the newest reply from Emma. Though, that grin had quickly disappeared into a frown as the two words burned into her brain. She barely had enough time to process them before dropping her phone back onto the counter and rushed off across the house.

Because those words read: " _Too late_ " and that had meant Cora had somehow found Emma without Regina's immediate knowledge. She hadn't heard her mother come back down the stairs, and the usual creaking would have alerted her, even if the attempt were to be furtive.

When Regina had finally reached the sitting room, she was confronted by her mother's angry and disappointed stare as Emma sat on the couch with an apologetic look. Cora was holding up the blonde's cellphone, a devious grin on her face.

"You cannot deny it now, my love." She tossed the cellular device onto the couch next to the blonde teenager as she stalked towards her daughter, _tsk_ ing as she drew closer. "I cannot believe that you would ever lie to me."

The blood in Regina's body boiled at that statement. She couldn't believe that she had lied to _her_?

"Oh, I cannot believe you, Mother. I should have known that your little spiel about wanting a snack was only to get me away so you could _snoop_."

"And my snooping need was satisfied when I had found what you were trying so hard to hide from me." Cora laughed coldly, her head shaking. "Did you honestly think that you could ever hide her from me, Regina?"

"One could only hope, but my ever-prying Mother is not one to give in so easily." Regina sneered, moving toward the blonde. She let her eyes rove over her lover's body, inspecting for any damage that her mother might have done.

"Don't worry, darling, I didn't hurt her if that's what you're thinking." Cora rolled her eyes, turning to face the two with a smirk that Regina wanted to smack right off her face. "She's a minor after all, is she not?"

"Not really." Emma butted in, but Regina shot her a glare.

 _Emma_. Always the one to speak when she shouldn't. Regina loved that girl dearly, but sometimes she just needed to shut the hell up before she got them into a deeper pit of shit than they were already in.

"Not really, she says." Cora gave a humorless laugh; her position had changed once again. She now moved to stand before her daughter, though her eyes were locked in with fiery emerald ones, which had only caused that smirk on her face to grow. "But is she not one of your students?"

" _Mother_..."

"No, no, darling. Do tell me." The older brunette snapped her gaze up to meet with Regina's, her eyes twinkling. "Is she not the one that I have heard about from your dear sister, Zelena? The one that was here the day that she had visited?"

Regina closed her eyes.

Her current worry was how the hell was she going to exactly explain this to her mother without sounding like a disgusting human being. And how the hell was she going to get out of this with her and Emma's relationship still intact?

Regina knew that her mother would do anything to split them apart, especially now that she had living proof.

That was Cora.

She enjoyed destroying lives. She enjoyed arguing to points. She enjoyed manipulating. That was why she was a lawyer in the first place. That was why Regina never won.

"Yes," she finally answered, chestnut orbs opening to meet with her lover's emerald ones. She could feel the ground below her merging with her entire being as she slowly dripped onto its surface.

"That is disgusting, Regina." Cora clucked.

Her words had broken their contact, ripping Regina back into the reality that they were currently living. She glared toward her mother, that sweet and loving smile on her face had soon vanished, turning into a scowl.

"And why might that be, _Mother_?" She inquired haughtily, though she had a feeling that she already knew of the reason.

And Cora's words had confirmed it. "She is a _child_ , Regina. Honestly, are you so desperate as to snatch up the first _girl_ that bats her lashes at you?"

"That is not how it is, Mother. You do not understand-"

"Oh, I think I do understand, Regina. I understand that you need more help than I could _ever_ give." The older woman hissed, looking as if her head were about to explode.

"I don't need any help, Mother." The brunette teacher gritted her teeth together, her hands flexing at her sides.

" _Gina_..." Emma whispered softly, reaching forward to grab the hand closest to her.

Regina sighed softly and nodded when their eyes met briefly, her entire body relaxing as she spoke, though to her mother as she continued to gaze into those very eyes that had forced her into an entirely different mood.

"I love her, Mother."

"I don't _care_ if you love her. I didn't _ask_ if you loved her, Regina." Cora scoffed, her eyes on their intertwined hands. There was something that flashed briefly over her face, but it was gone before either of the other women could detect it.

"You will never succeed in tearing us apart." Regina continued, brushing off what her mother had just said. "I do not care what you try. So what if I prefer women over men? It isn't like I cannot produce children, if that is what you're worried about."

"That _isn't_ , at all, what I'm worried about. You do not understand how I feel, Regina. Was it because you did not have a father figure while growing up? Is it my fault that you had turned out like this?"

"I am not _deformed_ , Mother! I am _fine!_ " Regina's grip on Emma's hand had tightened incredibly, her anger rising through the roof. She heard the blonde make a soft noise, but she hadn't let up as she proceeded to argue with her mother.

"You are _sick_ , Regina. This is not _normal_."

"Yes it is, Mother!" Regina could strangle that woman. "Quite a bit of the population are like me. It _is_ natural. We are born like this. _I_ was born this way."

"So you are telling me that you were born to chase after little girls?"

"No, Mother. That is most certainly _not_ what I am telling you." The English teacher pinched the bridge of her nose, an annoyed sigh falling from her lips. "Why are you even here? You never come visit me unless you want something, Mother. I assume that you have found it, now, haven't you? Emma was the reason why you're here."

Cora was taken aback by the sudden subject change, but that didn't falter her mood any. She continued to wear the same scowl on her lips as she sneered her next words. "I came here to put an end to whatever it is that you have."

"It really is not that simple, Mother. What are you going to threaten me with? I had already declared that I do not want your business. Why don't you give it to Zelena? She seems to be so eager for the position."

"I am not here about _that_ , darling. Besides, that woman is not worth so much as a single hair on my head." Her mother suddenly changed her pace of mood, a much lighter tone to her voice. Much _sweeter_ that it had only raised the hairs on Regina's arms. "I have something to wager that I am quite sure you cannot deny."

"And whatever might that be?" Regina rolled her eyes, impatience taking a tone to her already wary voice.

"Gina, I think I know what she has up her sleeve..." Emma stood from her spot, looking worriedly into her brunette lover's eyes. It was her hand this time to tighten its grip.

"Oh! It seems that she's smarter than she lets on. Let us hear her assumption. Perhaps I wouldn't have to break out the dramatics myself." Cora smirked, an eerie aura surrounding her as she gazed at the young blonde who had stood next to Regina.

Emma didn't meet her gaze, instead, she continued to stare at Regina as she nibbled on her lower lip.

"What is it?" Regina asked tentatively, dread suddenly filling her because she might have just thought of what her mother was going to use against her.

"Your job," she simply stated, her voice void of emotion as she had realized just what that meant.

"You can't do that!" Regina heard Emma exclaim, now facing the oldest woman with a glare. "That's just _fucked_ up. Would you really do that to your own daughter?"

"She needs help, don't you understand, child? _You_ need help, too. Why aren't your parents helping you?" Cora narrowed her eyes in return, causing the brunette teacher to move closer to the blonde. She had no doubt her mother would attack Emma and she wasn't about to let that happen.

"Because _my_ parents accept who I am." Emma retorted, this time taking a step toward Cora. Regina had pulled her back, though, before she could get closer to the smirking woman and wrapped an arm around her.

" _Emma_. No." Regina let the younger woman relax against her and sighed, her hand absently rubbing Emma's side. "Mother. Are you so cruel enough to threaten that of me? Both are my life and you know it, or perhaps you wouldn't because you have no idea what _love_ is."

 _Slap_.

Cora's hand met Regina's face, forcing the latter's head to the side. She made no sound, though her cheek stung from the contact as she felt Emma's arm wrap tightly around her. She donned an angry expression, her emerald orbs piercing Cora

"What the _fuck_ is wrong with you?" Emma immediately growled beside the brunette, but her words remained unacknowledged.

"How dare you say that to me, Regina Mills?" Cora hissed, her voice something menacing that sent shivers down Regina's spine.

This was the voice she used just before making things physical. Regina subtly moved closer to Emma, hoping that her mother wouldn't try something in front of the blonde more than she already had.

"You have _never_ loved me, Mother. How could you say that you do when you _threaten_ me with things like _this_?" Regina growled.

"Cannot handle the truth, can you?" Regina continued without hesitation. "You are _so_ pathetic. Why do I even bother with living like this? I could have my own life. My own house. My own job. But instead, I fell back on you. I allowed you to do all of this for me and I shouldn't have. I should have just stayed away when you had kicked me out. I would have been better off without you and your offerings."

Though once those words were out of her mouth, she had wanted to stuff them back in, all for more reasons than just one.

"The only good thing that came out of this was Emma." She quickly mended, pressing a kiss to the blonde's lips.

"That is _enough_ , Regina." Cora growled, and before the brunette could even have a chance to pull away from the kiss that she had initiated, she was pulled back by her hair.

Regina squawked in surprise at the contact, falling back roughly onto the ground as her mother moved to loom over her, everything darkened in her angry state.

The older brunette's hand swiftly moved to the teacher's neck, and Regina prepared herself for the worst, yet it didn't come. When her eyes opened, she saw Emma, there, yanking her mother back with a vicious bite to her voice.

"There's something _seriously_ wrong with you if you think you can just _push_ people around. I don't care if she's your daughter or not." Regina quickly squeezed Emma's hand, urging her to shut her mouth. As much as the brunette appreciated the attempt, there was no telling what her mother would do to the young blonde.

"I want you to get out of here, Emma, before you get hurt." The brunette teacher quickly muttered, eyes glued to her mother in case she decided to act out.

"I can't leave you here with her." Emma quickly shook her head, her brows furrowing at her as if she had sprouted a second head.

"There is nothing that you can do to help me, dear." The English teacher sighed softly, eyeing her mother as the older woman had finally stood. Cora hadn't made an effort to move, though. She only glared at them with fiery eyes.

Emma, on the other hand, had given Regina a look that had told her she wasn't going to leave. There was nothing going to change the stubborn blonde's mind, and that had only worried Regina more. Who only knows what her mother would do to Emma? Cora was capable of many things and they were _dangerous_.

"I do not understand your affinity for this _girl_." Cora hissed finally, breaking her from the worries burning on the edge of her mind. "It is _disgusting_ , Regina."

"Mother! You don't even know her." Regina snarled, standing in front of the blonde now, turning a glare on the woman who had given her life.

"Why should I?"

"Because your daughter loves her and there is _nothing_ that will ever change that." The brunette closed her eyes for a moment, reaching blindly behind her to take hold of the blonde's hand. The softest of smiles lilted her lips when she felt Emma readily take the hand, giving it a squeeze. "Look, Mother, I want you to read the pages before you throw the book away."

Regina now opened her eyes, not missing the disgusted look on her face before it had cleared.

"Why should I read these pages when it is nothing but a trashy novel?" Cora spat, causing the younger brunette to flinch. "Frankly, Regina, I would rather you throw out what has been used and start fresh."

" _With a man_." Regina finished her mother's unsaid thought. "Mother, listen to me." The brunette quickly said before Cora could open her mouth to say anything about Regina's latest comment. "Emma lives here."

It had taken the older woman a moment to process what Regina had told her before she spoke. Though the look on her face was not of surprise, but of something that the teacher could not quite place. Why did it look as if she _knew_?

"Why is she living with you? Does she not have her own parents? This girl is underage."

"I'm eighteen." She heard Emma behind her speak, stepping to the teacher's side once again.

"How convenient."

"Shut up, Mother." Regina grit her teeth, her grip on the blonde's hand only tightened. "She had a fallout with her parents and I let her stay here until she sorted it out. She decided to move in after patching things up and I did not mind. I do not mind. I will never mind."

"Oh, how sweet!" Cora's voice was nothing but sugar as she spoke, sweet and sickeningly so, and it had Regina cringing. "Now you can play _house_."

Regina pinched the bridge of her nose once again, a habit she had formed since Cora's arrival. She could already feel a migraine starting behind her left eyeball. "Mother! I will not hear of it. I know that she is incredibly younger than I am, but so what? There are _eighty-year-olds_ married to _twenty-year-olds_ , and it isn't even for love!"

"But at least it's _legal_ , Regina." The older brunette smirked, her head shaking as she took a step towards the two. "Darling, why do you not give your relationship up? It's quite the risk."

"I find Emma worth the risk, Mother. The funny thing is, you find love where you least expect it, and when you do find it, you better grab that opportunity because you never know when you will ever find it again." Regina stared the shorter woman down, daring her to make another move.

When her mother hadn't said a word, she had continued. "Look, I want you to _see_ our relationship in progress. Give it a chance. I... cannot let you do this to us, Mother. We had worked so hard to get to this point and for you to come in like a tornado and blow us apart... It isn't something I will ever forgive you for."

Cora stayed silent, digesting the information that her daughter had given her. Regina could only stare at her. She didn't want to go on an overload, because her mother would surely decline then.

"Say I do what you suggest," she had finally said in a slow, contemplative tone. "Would you really think that it would change my mind?"

"I would only have hope for the better." Regina answered.

"I highly doubt that it would, _but-_ " Cora crossed her arms, wearing a smirk that took Regina aback. What cogs were rolling in that woman's mind? "I will give you until I leave in one week's time. I do not guarantee that you will change my mind, but I will give you _hope_. Show me why this is worth such a risk."

"Thank you, Mother..." Regina could cry with relief. She had found herself hugging the older woman in front of her, more than grateful that she had given her this chance.

"This will be my birthday gift to you, Regina." Cora had tentatively hugged the younger brunette in return. "You have one last week to spend with this... _girl_."

Regina nodded, pulling from her mother's grip to stand next to Emma once again. This time, she had wrapped an arm around her waist, the upturn of her lips faint, but still there.

"Did you make those sandwiches?" Cora queried after a moment's silence. She turned from the two of them, moving toward the door. "I was not lying when I had said I was hungry."

"Yes. I made two." Regina bit her lower lip as she moved to follow her mother to the kitchen, Emma still attached to her side. "You can have them. We'll find something else, I'm sure."

"There are steaks." Emma murmured, grinning up at her brunette lover. "I wanted to make them for you for dinner."

"That might be too heavy." The brunette teacher pressed her lips together, eyes floating to her mother watching them on the opposite side of the kitchen.

The older woman had set down the sandwich that she had just about to take a bite from and folded her hands together, her sparkling orbs flicking between the blonde and the brunette. "Now, don't be silly, Regina. You can let... Emma here fix you up the steaks, and I will even head off to the grocery store to pick up a third. We can dine in tonight if she has something _special_ planned for your birthday."

"Mother," Regina had started, her lips parted as if she were going to continue, but her mother had waved a hand dismissively.

"I will not hear of it. If she wishes to make you dinner, so be it. At least let there be enough for us all. After all, you want me to see your... _relationship_ in action." Cora smirked slowly before turning to get a box of plastic wrap from one of the drawers behind her. "I will even make my own."

"Mother, you don't have to do that. I'm sure we can-"

"Gina," Emma had interrupted her this time, though the gentle squeeze to her hand had been far more settling than the chill that ran down her spine from her mother's. "That steak won't last much longer. We might as well just eat it tonight, anyways." There was a single moment's pause before she hesitantly turned her emerald gaze to land upon the eldest woman. "And don't worry about making your own. I don't mind cooking up all three. It will be far easier, anyways."

"If you seem to be so sure of yourself." Cora's lips twitched as she set the plate of sandwiches into the fridge and moved toward the two. Her spicy perfume engulfed Regina's senses, causing her muscles to tense.

The scent of her lover and her mother mingling together was nothing pleasant. It only spelled danger.

"I am." Emma murmured, her eyes darting over Cora's features before averting. "Uh... I'm gonna go see what we have to make with it." She quickly moved off, leaving Regina and her mother alone.

Regina frowned at the sight of her lover moving away. This wasn't going to be an easy week for any of them, she could sense _that_.

Cora would hate every moment watching her daughter with a woman, Emma would be too frazzled and terrified to do or say much in front of Cora, and Regina was going to be the one in the middle, worrying herself sick about everything going on around her.

"I suppose I should be going. I don't think we want to waste any more time than we already had, now do you?" Cora drew the younger brunette's attention her way, a smile full on her lips.

"Of course not, Mother."

"Do you require anything while I'm there?" She had moved now, her tracks leading to the door. Regina merely shook her head, unable to think of anything at the moment and watched as she disappeared into the hall.

It wasn't but a heartbeat later that Emma had popped out of the pantry with a box of pasta in one hand and a small bag of potatoes in the other. "Which goes better with steak?"

Regina quietly pointed to the potato bag, a brow quirked at the blonde's sudden relaxed physique. She had continued to watch on as Emma had moved to set the pasta back on its designated shelf before dealing with the starch vegetable.

"Emma?" The teacher quirked a brow at the younger woman's nonchalance as she went through the procedure of washing and peeling the potatoes. "What are you doing?"

"Peeling potatoes to make mashed potatoes." Then Emma paused, the peeler halfway down the current potato before she glanced up at her brunette lover with widened eyes. "Unless you want them baked, then I screwed up _horribly_."

"No... No, mashed are fine." Regina gave her a reassuring smile before heading toward her, her arms slipping around her waist from behind. She felt the blonde stiffen for a moment before relaxing into the grip to proceed with her current action.

"You seem much more relaxed than you were earlier."

Emma was quiet for a moment as she set the potato aside and grabbed for another. "I'm trying to pretend that everything is normal right now. It's just you and me." The blonde sighed softly, the arms around her squeezing. "Honestly, Gina? I'm scared shitless by what she's going to do. I don't... want to lose you."

"I know, baby girl." The older woman dipped her head down, pressing a tender kiss to Emma's cheek. She gently plucked the potato and peeler from the blonde's hands, setting them aside before slipping her fingers between the paler digits. "I don't want to lose you, either, and I will be damned if I ever let her win. You won't lose me. Not so easily."

"Please don't let that be a lie, Regina." Emma leaned fully back against the older woman's body, her eyes closing as she let the scent of her lover fill her senses. The soft feeling of gentle hands caressing her own was enough to let her slip into a momentary state of tranquilization.

Regina took a deep inhalation of air, her grip never faltering on the blonde woman in her arms. "I cannot promise anything, Emma. But I will promise you this," she murmured, her fingers curling tighter into the blonde's hand, "I promise that I will stop at nothing to keep us together and if I fail... if I fail, then I am better off alone. I will hate myself too much if I allow for her to tear us apart."

"Regina, don't speak like that." Emma had wormed around in her arms, turning to face the older woman. Her vibrant, green eyes were shimmering with tears unshed. "Gina, listen..." She reached up and cupped Regina's tawny cheek, her thumb caressing the smooth surface. "I love you, and I always will. We will find a way to be together no matter what because you're the only one that I want. You're the only puzzle piece that I can connect with, and without you here... I'm incomplete."

That had tugged something in Regina's heart because the next thing she knew, her vision was far blurrier than before as something wet rolled down her cheeks. Her arms tightened around the smaller frame before her, a smile so bright, it could melt the sun itself.

"You have your moments, Emma Swan, and that's what I love about you." She sniffled her nose, trying to sober herself up. "You can be smart as hell and just as sweet."

"Thank you, thank you." Emma smirked, wiping those tears from her lover's face before placing a gentle kiss on full, pink lips.

But that gentle kiss was everything but as Regina didn't allow her to pull away. She had, instead, kissed the blonde back heatedly, taking Emma by surprise. A groan fell from the blonde's lips as she matched the other woman for each move she made.

The brunette hummed, her hands falling against Emma's bum to press her closer, a sudden desire sweeping through her and roaring to life in her lower belly. She daintily ran her tongue across the crease of the blonde's lips, soon gaining access to her sweet mouth. That very tongue was pushed out by Emma's own in a desperate duel to gain dominance.

A muffled plea rose up in the brunette's through, almost inaudible but when Emma had pushed her back against the counter, she knew she had been heard. The answer was frantically given as the blonde had urged for Regina to hop up onto the counter, their kiss broken for only a moment.

Regina had fulfilled the request and pulled Emma closer to her, their lips crashing together in another heated kiss as the latter woman's fingers fumbled with the teacher's dress. She hiked the skirt of it up, the palms of her hands pressing flat against olive thighs. The older woman had wrapped her legs around Emma's waist, her hips thrusting forward as if pleading for her to continue.

Emma smirked against Regina's lips when those pale finger proceeded towards the English teacher's aching center. The brunette bit her lip as the heat had concentrated itself into her very core, the desperation to be touched only growing by the moment. She could almost feel it, her hips jerking forward once again with success when Emma's fingers had collided with her.

" _Please_ , Emma..." Regina had pleaded, their kiss breaking as her head fell back. Emma's lips attached themselves to her exposed throat just as she pushed the damp panties aside and thrust two fingers into her.

The well-needed contact had exploded pleasure throughout the brunette, causing her to gasp into the air. Her fingers had tightened around the blonde's arms as she met each thrust, her hips moving off the counter every so often.

At that point, everything logical had swept from her mind. Everything including the fact that her mother would be due home at any moment now. The thought hadn't even crossed her mind as she continued to rock herself against the now trio of digits pumping furiously into her.

Though, it had when there was a horrified voice calling her name from the opposite side of the kitchen. Regina's eyes had immediately popped open from their hooded state, her head whipping up to spot her mother staring at the two of them with a face of both horror and disgust.

Emma had ceased all movement upon hearing the ungodly shriek, her eyes wide as she stared at her brunette lover, who had much reflected her visage.

" _Mother_!" The brunette finally was able to make sense of the situation, the word being the only thing that had brought to the forefront of her mind.

"Get out of my daughter!" Cora screeched, slamming the bag that she had been carrying onto the island counter.

It wasn't until then that Regina had noticed Emma had been too shocked to even remove her fingers from the older woman. But that didn't serve as a problem now because those digits were out of the brunette faster than if her insides had been on fire.

"I'm sorry!" Emma raised her hands, taking a step back.

"Emma..." Regina clucked her tongue, smacking her arm to make her put them down. "You don't need to apologize to her. _I_ wanted this, Mother. It's my fault. The least we could have done was get up to the bedroom."

The brunette hopped off the counter, her cheeks heating as she had finally gained realization of her current position, and pulled her dress down. She raised her eyes to her mother's angry complexion, nearly flinching at the intense emotion burning in her eyes.

"That is just _disgusting_ , Regina." Cora growled, no sooner bringing a hand to slap across the brunette's face.

Regina blinked, almost unsure of what the hell had happened until the skin of her cheek had started to sting. "Mother?"

"Will you _stop_ being such a-" Emma moved from her position and looked ready to pounce on the eldest brunette, but Regina gained enough wit to hold her back and shush her before she could complete her sentence.

Cora looked displeased at this action, yet a twinkle shone in her eye. "You are _lucky_ that I am allowing for you two to be together for the week that I am here." The older woman hissed before turning her attention to the abandoned potatoes behind them. "But you won't be if I catch you two doing this again. At least have enough decency to keep your _atrocious_ activities in that closet of yours where _I_ don't have to see it."

"I'm sorry, Mother..." Regina sighed, closing her eyes.

"You will be, darling." Cora cast a glare to her daughter before turning to face the panic-stricken blonde who had been watching through wide eyes. "And you, you're making dinner. Do it."

"Yes. Of course." Emma quickly nodded, looking so unlike herself as she moved jerkily toward the potatoes, but not before Cora had stopped her.

"And wash your hands before you do. I beg of you." Her gaze flicked to Emma's fingers. "And don't get brave with me again unless you _want_ things to go smoothly."

Emma was merely quiet, though the look in her eyes could kill. She turned to wash her hands as instructed as Cora gave a satisfied grin and left, leaving the two of them alone.

This next week will be absolute hell.

* * *

"Dinner was wonderful, Emma. Don't listen to my mother." Emma looked up from the bed as her brunette partner had stepped out of the dress she was wearing. "She can be quite the bitch; I will not deny that."

"Don't worry about it," she mumbled, her eyes sliding up to meet Regina's. "I'm sure it was bad, anyways."

"But it _wasn't_ , Emma. Cora ate it, that's something, even if she insulted it." Regina smiled softly at her before turning to hang her dress back up in the closet. The blonde's eyes fell to her plump behind and the generous amount of flesh exposed by the small, lace and satin that she wore.

"I guess as long as you liked it, Gina, that's all that matters. It was for you, anyways." Emma rolled toward her edge of the bed and reached down to grab the bag with Regina's gift in it before the woman could return.

By the time that she had, Regina had donned a pair of her satin pajamas and a smile as she shuffled over to the bed. Emma held up the red gift bag that had been in her lap, returning the smile.

"And I hope you'll like this, too." She handed it over as soon as Regina got comfortable and waited anxiously. This had been the first thing that she wanted to happen today, and that had been the fuel of her excitement to get through the day. But, of course, nothing ever goes according to plan, and alas, Cora had shown up.

But now there were no interruptions and no rude comments.

"What is this?" Regina blinked slightly before a flicker of recognition passed over her features, ending with an upward curve on those perfect lips. "Oh! I nearly forgot about this. Emma, you know that you didn't have to get me anything."

"I know, but _you_ got me something for my birthday and so much more. This is the least I can do." Emma smiled softly, her hand coming up to absently play with the swan pendant around her neck.

"Sometimes you are too sweet and I simply do not know what I will do with you." Regina leaned over to drop a kiss on the blonde's nose before drawing her attention to the gift bag once again. This time there were no interruptions to stop her from removing the tissue paper, the gift slowly unveiling.

Emma squeaked softly as she watched Regina gasp and pull the fluffy, stuffed panda from the bag. "I know it isn't no Mr. Pervert like you have over there, but I hope you like it. A-And look! It even has your name on the little collar thing."

Though, the collar had been an addition made by Emma. She bought a normal, black collar from the store and had found a machine that made customized nametags.

"I love him, Emma." Regina smiled widely, hugging the stuffed panda close before drawing the envious blonde into her arms. "He is wonderful and I will cherish him forever."

"And look on the back." Emma reached towards the little golden heart tag to turn it around, showing the three little words on the opposite side of Regina's name.

"'I love you,'" Regina read, the smile turning soft. "Oh, that is _so_ sweet, Emma."

"But it's true, so." The blonde shifted in her spot, leaning slightly against Regina's arm as the older woman had continued to admire the gift. When the brunette had looked up upon hearing those words, Emma had offered her sheepish grin.

The brunette chuckled softly at this, leaning down to drop a soft kiss to her forehead. "And I love you, Emma."

Emma giggled softly, shifting up in her spot once again as Regina had moved to set the stuffed panda on the night stand. She had also taken the liberty to flick off the lamp, leaving the two of them to get swallowed up by the sudden dark void. This had the blonde blinking for a moment, trying to adjust to the new lighting, or lack thereof.

And when she finally had, she was pulled down onto the bed by a shadow at her side. This had only earned another giggle from her as she realized the source was Regina, and she was currently coddling her under the blankets with a soft giggle of her own.

"We should sleep." She whispered, stealing a quick kiss from Emma.

The blonde couldn't help but to giggle again at this gesture. As her eyes had adjusted more to the darkness, she was able to make out the basics of her lover's face.

The smile there melted her heart.

"But it's the weekend?" Emma finally realized what Regina had whispered, her brows furrowing at the thought. Normally they stayed up well past midnight on the weekends. Sometimes they wouldn't even go to bed at all.

"My mother is an early riser." Emma couldn't help not to miss the tone Regina's voice had taken. "It would be best if we were to sleep early to get a good night's rest or we'll be crabby as hell and my mother will only make it worse."

"I guess that means bye-bye sleeping in until the afternoon." The blonde mumbled under her breath.

"I'm sorry, Emma." Regina's voice was like a lullaby as she whispered those words into Emma's ear.

"Don't be." She murmured softly, wiggling closer against the brunette as she opened her eyes. "I'm tired anyways."

A smile bloomed across Regina's features. Soft and sweet were her eyes as she ducked forward to steal another kiss. "Then I suppose we should sleep?"

"Isn't that what we're supposed to be doing?" Emma yawned her words, drawing them out as she had shifted away slightly to gaze into those dark, sparkling orbs. The brunette had merely nodded at her words, the upturn of her lips still there.

"Unless you're planning something."

"No. Of course not, Emma." Regina hummed, nosing closer to her before dropping another kiss to her lips. "Unless, of course, you have something planned?"

Emma's brow quirked at the question. Was she suggesting what Emma thought she was suggesting? Suddenly a slight smirk scorched the blonde's features and she leaned in to steal a much longer kiss from Regina.

The brunette gasped softly from the sudden contact, moving to return it only for Emma to pull back. "That's payback."

"Payback?" Regina quirked a brow, wetting her lips as she searched the blonde's face.

"For stealing those kisses, silly." Emma smirked, shifting herself closer into Regina's personal bubble. The teacher made a soft noise, her breath hitching as their bodies had pressed against one another.

"You're quite something, Emma." Regina clucked, her hand drifting down the blonde's side. Emma shivered at the contact, her back arching slightly as the dormant desire in her body had roared to life. She itched for more contact and she was sure Regina felt the same because she was now forcing the younger woman onto her back.

The older woman smiled as she had hovered over her, hands planted on the pillow on either side of Emma's head. Regina's own head had lowered, closer and closer to Emma's until their lips were but a breadth apart.

"You have two options, Emma." The teacher whispered huskily, her hot, moist breath falling against the blonde's skin in steady wisps.

"And what might they be?" Emma's emerald irises fell to Regina's plump lips before rising up to meet with coffee eyes.

"We can either a) sleep, or b) ..." A smirk soon replaced the sweet smile on the older woman's face as she closed the distance between them. Emma groaned into the kiss, her lips sliding in perfect harmony with her brunette lover's before the latter of the two quickly pulled away.

"I take it someone wants birthday sex?" Emma nibbled on her lower lip, the ever growing smirk on her face only expanded. " _Tsk, tsk_. We're supposed to be going to sleep."

"Well, we _can_ if you want." Regina gave her a look before changing position, rolling off the blonde and back to her previous position. "I can just... take care of myself."

"Oh no you don't!" Emma's eyes widened when the older woman had suggested that, her hand flying to Regina's wrist to keep her from moving it. "If you're going to do _that_ , then at least let _me_ do it."

"I thought so." The English teacher's lips twitched as she watched the blonde slowly release her grip.

Emma's eyes narrowed at her, her nose crinkling slightly as she slowly rolled herself on top of the brunette in a position much like Regina's previous one. The older woman had giggled, the vibrations coursing throughout her body had tickled something in the blonde to join in as well until the two of them were nothing but a mass of madness.

It was Regina who had broken their uproarious laughter with a soft kiss to the blonde's lips, stunning her momentarily. She blinked, unable to make a sound when the older of the two had stared at her with smiling, chestnut eyes.

"My mother is in the other room." She whispered softly, stealing, yet again, another kiss. "I don't think she would appreciate us waking her."

"No shit. Especially after the kitchen thing." Emma murmured in return, succumbing to the brunette's dominance as she flipped them over. The blonde stared up at the darkened figure of her lover, almost a shadow in the inky room, an anxious smile on her lips.

"So that means _you'll_ have to be quiet." Regina hummed, head lowering out of view.

Emma gasped softly when she felt teeth nip delicately at her earlobe as one of the brunette's hands had moved, all too quickly finding the blonde's core through her cotton shorts. A soft moan erupted from Emma's lips at the added sensation, her back arching upward as she urged her hips against the hand cupping her.

"That might be difficult." Emma breathed, Regina's hand rubbing her roughly through the thin material. And just as she had finished her sentence, the brunette's fingers had pressed against the sensitive bud which had earned a hearty groan that had the teacher's hand slapping over her student's mouth in a heartbeat.

" _Shh_ , Emma. Not so loud." The older woman pulled her hand away before sliding her hands to the blonde's hips, silencing the whine that she was about to give. "I know you're used to making love in a house alone, but..."

"Revert back to the apartment, got it." Emma smirked, her hips rising in aid as her shorts, and panties alike, were being pulled down her thighs.

"Back to the apartment?" Regina had tossed the clothing onto the floor, eyes focused in on the forest eyes below her.

Emma smirked in return, her pale digits falling down her lover's sides to tug at the smooth, satin material of her pajama pants. "Well, I _did_ have to be quiet when I... pleased myself."

"I see..." The brunette growled her words. She slapped Emma's hands away from her pants, moving to pull them off herself before repositioning herself above the younger woman.

"Does that make you... _hot_?" The blonde couldn't help but to smirk, her hands finding purchase on the teacher's hips once again. This time, she had let them explore the olive toned expanse of skin. One of them teased the intimate mound, her fingers combing delicately over the soft lips as the older woman had responded with quiet mewls.

"I don't want to dirty talk, Emma," she murmured, her hips lowering the wet heat against Emma's stomach as they slowly rocked. "I want for you to _touch_ me. I want you to make love to me, Emma."

A gentle smile graced the blonde's features as she nodded, her arms moving to wrap around Regina before she rolled the two of them over. A soft gasp left Regina's lips, hitting Emma's face in a hot puff of air. She smirked and lowered her lips to the pink ones below hers, a knee nudging Regina's thighs apart to press against her center.

" _Yes_..." The word was a gasping whisper as it fell from Regina's lips. Emma smiled in satisfaction at this, her knee grinding against the older woman's slowly moving hips. Their lips had returned to one another's again, the blonde's sliding over the brunette's as olive digits curled in golden locks.

Emma's entire body hummed with pleasure as she had rocked her own body against her brunette lover's thigh. They had moved in perfect harmony, gasping softly against each other's lips and cheeks as they attempted to remain quiet.

" _Regina."_ The blonde choked against said woman's cheek when fingers had snuck their way under her shirt and up her smooth stomach. The muscles clenched anxiously at the sensation as the rolling of her hips nearly ceased when she jerked against the hand, her eyes widening.

Regina merely smirked, her other hand soon joining to tug the shirt up and over the blonde's head, with a few urging gestures. That piece of cloth had soon been tossed off to the side along with their other discarded attire.

"Your turn, _baby_." Emma murmured, pressing a finger to Regina's chest before moving to unbutton the pajama blouse that she wore. A smirk played on her lips as she watched the brunette's eyes burning into her.

"I do hope you hurry, _sweetheart_ , because I am absolutely-"

Emma had pressed a finger to Regina's mouth to cut her off, the smirk on her lips only growing in size. "No dirty talk, Gina, as you had said."

"Being bitten by my own words. How classic." Regina groaned softly, jerking her hips up as Emma had managed to finally pull the fabric away. A pale hand fell to the newly exposed flesh before her, eyes eating up the sight as it swallowed down straight to her already aching core. The sensitive flesh thrummed, desperate for more contact than it was receiving.

Regina, though, didn't seem to take that into account. Even if she were feeling the same, she still seemed to take it lazily. Her olive fingers slid against Emma's pale flesh, exploring every inch exposed to her. They moved up her back, the warmth of her palms relaxing the blonde's body as she slowly melted into the touch. A pale smile spread across her lips at the gentle contact.

The hand on the older woman's breast had fallen away to give Emma the sight of the beauty it beheld. It was a sight that Emma had never wanted to be lain to waste, so she admired it for the time being as Regina's hand had continued to explore. The pad of her thumb brushed lightly over the brunette teacher's nipple, causing it to tighten.

"Mm, Emma..." Regina groaned softly, her chest thrusting up against the blonde's hand, urging her hips forward as well. "Please, _touch me_."

Emma nodded slightly, shifting that hand down her side with a soft smirk as Regina shuddered underneath her with a hum. Just as the blonde's hand had met with her lover's awaiting folds, she felt a hand slip up between her own thighs. A sharp gasp left her lips upon the new contact, her hips grinding down against the exploring fingers.

Regina stared up at her, teeth biting into her lower lip as she watched the shades of pleasure float across her features. Emma tried her best to suppress the moan bubbling rapidly in her throat as she forcefully thrust two digits into the older woman. Unfortunately, this had earned a soft yelp from said woman, dark orbs widening in shock from both the sound and sudden addition.

"Sorry." The blonde muttered sheepishly as she set a pace, her fingers not hesitating to pump in and out of her lover's body. Her leg had long moved, though she still remained mounted to the muscular tan one.

"Don't... worry about it, Emma." The words were nothing but groans as Regina tried to meet each of the blonde's thrusts, her slender fingers slipping between the younger woman's folds to find the sensitive bundle of nerves.

The circular movements had Emma gasping, soft squeaks falling from her lips as she tried desperately to keep the sounds in her throat. It was with Regina's help that that had been possible as the older woman kissed her, hard and long as their bodies moved once again at a harmonized pace. Emma's fingers thrust into Regina, her pace quickening in time with the brunette's own pace, her breath growing more ragged by the minute.

" _Please_..." she moaned against her lips, a third digit worming its way into her lover's slick heat. Her plead was fulfilled when the older woman slipped a finger into her, pushing it in to its knuckle. The blonde couldn't help the new moan that fell from her lips as she shifted her hips to urge that appendage in deeper.

"I-I love you, Emma!" Regina cried out, causing the blonde's eyes to widen before she slapped a hand over her lover's mouth. Emma's fingers pumped faster, getting harder with each thrust as she felt the older woman start to tighten around her. The brunette only stared at her with widened eyes at the entire situation, though her own movements had never faltered, instead, they had only sped to match Emma's pace.

"I love you, too, Gina." Emma finally had managed to pant in return as she continued to roll her hips against Regina's fingers and thigh, her thrusts nearly weakening until she felt the older woman's body contract and shudder around her as she had reached her climax.

" _Oh, yes_!" She didn't let that cry be hushed.

"Your... turn..." Regina huffed, her breathing shallow as she picked up the speed of her fingers, two rubbing tight circles around the blonde's clitoris as another pumped wildly into her entrance. It wasn't long until Emma felt the pressure building up within her. Her movements themselves had become slower, yet still frantic as she searched for the release that she had longed for.

And she had found it, her body shuddering when she curled up against Regina with a soft cry, face burying into her neck. She didn't move when her body had relaxed, instead she had only curled up more against her lover as the older woman's fingers trailed up and down her back, tracing absent shapes against her pale flesh.

"I hope you enjoyed the second half of your birthday gift." Emma smirked softly, wriggling up to place a sweet kiss to her lips. Regina merely chuckled with a shake of her head, those digits moving up to curl into her hair.

"Oh, I quite did." Regina hummed, a smirk crossing over her features. "I do hope that isn't all, though?"

"What?" Emma poked her head up, only to be met with a scandalous twinkle in the teacher's eyes.

"Oh, nothing, my love."

"Are you sure?" The blonde nuzzled close to her neck, pressing a single kiss to the tanned flesh.

A yawn fell from the brunette's lips just before she could answer and Emma chuckled, poking her nose. "Or are you just tired?"

"Well, it certainly has been a long day, what with my mother's arrival and all." Regina wrapped her arms around the blonde, keeping her close against her. "But I could always go for... a little... _more._ "

"You're so _naughty_ , Gina." Emma chuckled, though it died in her throat as the brunette's fingernails grazed over her bum.

"If we continue, it will be hard to stop." Regina growled, her voice had taken a husky tone to it.

"I know."

"And we will be _exhausted_ in the morning. Is that something you'd be... willing to endure?"

Emma sucked her lower lip into her mouth and chewed on it, eyes searching the brunette's with a slow grin. "I'll be willing to take the risk."

"Oh, _good_." Regina purred, flipping the two of them over which had earned a squawk of surprise from Emma. "Then the night is still young and we aren't nearly sweaty enough."


	25. And The Bricks Fall

Emma stirred from her slumber, the cool breeze caressing her backside had the blonde groan and roll over. And when she had, she had expected to find solace in Regina's warmth but, instead, she found an empty bed and cold sheets.

The blonde's eyes snapped open as she felt around, just to be sure that the older woman wasn't curled up somewhere further away.

But she wasn't there. Not even at the edge. So, the blonde found herself quickly sitting up, eyes roaming wildly around the room in search of her brunette lover. The immediate room was empty, as was the en suite bathroom.

"Gina?" Emma croaked from the bed, pushing the blankets off as she checked the clock, and gaped. It was well past noon and that meant Regina must have been up for _hours_ because of her _mother_. And that very thought had only panicked the blonde teenager more, forcing her naked bum out of bed to get dressed.

"Shit..." Emma mumbled as she sheepishly inched her way from the room, donning one of Regina's fluffy robes over her pajamas before she made it to the hall.

As soon as the blonde had hit the top of the stairs, she smelled something cooking from the kitchen. Stomach growling, she decided to follow the scent trail in hopes that it was Regina who was cooking and not the older woman's mother. That would be quite awkward to walk into and after last night's failure to keep quiet, she didn't exactly want to show her face in front of the eldest brunette woman.

Therefore, it was just her relief when she had spotted her brunette lover moving around the kitchen, balancing a pan in one hand and a plate in the other, which appeared to be transferring a fried egg. Quirking a brow, Emma walked into the kitchen and kissed Regina on the cheek.

"Where's your mother?"

"She decided to go on a walk before lunch." Regina turned from the stove with a smile, her arms snaking around the blonde's waist. With a kiss to Emma's forehead, she continued. "She will be due back any moment."

And just like that, Regina had pulled away from Emma and shoved the plate that she had been holding in her face. "Eggs? Sausage? Pancakes?"

"... I thought it was lunch?" Emma blinked, tentatively grabbing the dish full of breakfast foods and looked over it, almost warily.

"Mother, luckily, got up rather late. She missed breakfast and wanted it for lunch instead." Regina sighed softly and returned to the stove once again, cracking an egg over the pan. "But it would be just my luck that she would come home and decide to crave something else."

"Does she do that often?" Emma quirked a brow, sticking a forkful of egg in her mouth.

There was a momentary silence as the brunette stared at the sizzling egg, a frown floating across her features. "Sometimes. Usually she gets up early, so it wouldn't be anything like this, but... She might suggest one thing, or a certain place, for a meal and change her mind perhaps not even five minutes later. It's… tedious, but I do have meals for the next day, I suppose."

"Well, that's kinda shitty of her." The blonde frowned, leaning against the counter as she had continued to slowly eat her lunch.

"Yes, but that is my mother and I'm afraid that I cannot change it." Regina sighed, scooping the finished egg up and onto a plate.

Emma nodded slightly, watching her as she finished off her egg. "Why didn't you get me up when you got up?"

"I thought that I would let you sleep, dear." The brunette finished the second plate and moved to set it on the island before going right back to frying the third and final egg. "I know how much you adore it."

"Yeah, but it probably won't look good for your mother." Emma mumbled and moved to sit on the far side of the island stools, waiting for her lover to join her after she had finished.

"Who cares about my mother?" Regina grumbled, angrily flopping the egg onto her plate, breaking the yolk.

"I..."

"I'm sorry." The brunette held up a hand, shaking her head. With a soft sigh, she had joined Emma at the island with her plate of food. "Mother... heard us."

"Wh-what?" Emma's eyes widened.

Regina nodded slowly, stabbing absently at a sausage link. "She chewed me out before leaving. That's _why_ she had left. She apparently needed to let off some steam."

"I-I'm sorry."

Regina snapped her head in her direction, giving her a look. "You do not be sorry. It was not your fault. This is _my_ house, and I can do what I wish in it. I told her that, too." A slight frown claimed her lips as she took a dainty bite of her egg. "But you know how that woman is."

Emma nodded silently, deciding not to speak as she continued to eat the lunch that Regina had prepared. The silence between them was nothing but welcoming as it allowed the blonde to think over their current situation, and no doubt had given the older woman time as well.

Cora was abusive and manipulative, and everything else that Regina had used to describe that woman before Emma had ever met her. It was understandable why the teacher had refused to bring her mother up in their earlier conversations. This woman was as wicked and evil as the two could get. She no doubt had brought up unpleasant memories whenever Regina spoke of her, as had Emma's own experiences in the past with her former foster families.

But the thing that had caught Emma off guard the most was the level of _nastiness_ that this woman carried. Sure, Regina had described Cora to be vile, and that had already set a bad image in Emma's mind, but this woman was worse than she had ever dreamt possible when in person.

Regina was trapped under her ruthless mother's spell and was unable to free herself until one of them had succumbed to a mightier power. For both Regina's and her sake, she hoped that it would be Cora that would be doing the succumbing.

Then that had sparked a whole different thought into her mind. Cora was dying, or so Zelena had said and Regina said her mother had confirmed. Regina would be able to be free of her mother's grip.

But, in the meantime, what would happen to their relationship? Emma couldn't let Regina lose her job just because of her. She loved the brunette teacher too much to let her ruin her life for their relationship.

"Are you alright, Emma?" Regina nudged the blonde's arm, forcing Emma out of her thoughts. "Or are you off prancing with those ponies in La-La Land again?"

The blonde chuckled and shook her head, turning to face her brunette partner. "Oh, _definitely_ , Gina. Except these ponies have horns and wings! They make for much more interesting dance partners."

"I would imagine." The teacher laughed as she pushed her empty plate away from her. "Just watch out for the horns or else you will find yourself to be shishkebabbed."

"I'll try to be careful." Emma smirked, leaning toward the brunette. "Or who else would stick their tongue in you?"

"Oh, don't you be so crass, Emma." Regina growled softly, closing the distance to nip the tip of Emma's nose before sitting back. "I don't think you want Cora to come back in and catch us again."

The blonde's eyes widened at that thought because, no thank you ma'am, she would not enjoy that pants-shitting fest again. "Can I get a side of fuck with that no?"

"I believe we're fresh out of fuck. How about hell instead?" Regina winked and hopped out of her stool to snatch up the two empty plates.

Emma chuckled at her comment, popping up to follow her to the sink. "You're some breed of special, Gina."

"Yes, but you like it." The brunette turned to give Emma a cute little smile, instantly turning the blonde's heart into jelly. "And lucky thing you do, because I _am_ rather 'screwed up' as you so often point out."

There was a snort that sounded from the blonde, which had immediately caught Regina off guard. The brunette stared the younger woman down, those mocha eyes narrowed on her. "Oh, I see that you agree with that."

"Because it's true, Regina." Emma leaned up to press a kiss to her cheek. She donned an impish smirk. "But it's a good screwed up. Like... you enjoy bloody movies and really, I mean _really,_ sick ones at that. And I see you smile when someone gets hurt..." Then her own eyes narrowed at the teacher's twitching lips. "More specifically me when I stub my toe or something. You're one sadistic bitch."

"Oh, like you didn't laugh when I fell on my ass last week on that ice patch on our porch."

"You saw that one coming, Regina. _I_ saw that one coming. Hell, even the residents in _California_ saw that one coming." Emma snorted, playfully bumping her hip into Regina's, but the older woman didn't look so amused. "Oh, come on, don't be such a sour puss."

"But you laughed at me." Regina gave her a petulant pout that made Emma know she was forgiven.

"Would it make you feel better if I said I walked into the closet shelf and your broom decided to attack me?" The teenager mumbled, the memories unpleasant as she brought herself back to yesterday. But the quirk on Regina's lips had made up for it and she grinned, pushing gently at her shoulder. "See? You enjoy my misery."

"I must admit I do." Regina burst into a full-fledged smile. "To an extent, of course."

"Of course. It would only be a tragedy if I lost a limb."

"Oh, you know what I mean, dear."

"No, do go on." A third voice interrupted the affirmation that Emma was about to give. The duo popped their heads up and glanced toward the disruption, finding Cora to be standing there in her jogging clothes with a quirked brow.

"Mother, back so soon?" Regina dismissed what her mother had previously said as she moved around Emma toward Cora. A forced smile stretched on her lips as she gestured to the plate on the counter. "Your lunch might be cold. I expected you sooner."

"You just contradicted yourself, darling." Cora peered over to the plate of food, her lip curled up into a sneer. "I think I just might eat those sandwiches from yesterday. This isn't breakfast, Regina."

"But, Mother, you-"

"I expect something heavier for our next meal, do you understand me? Do not mistake suppertime for lunch." The older brunette glared at her daughter, forcing the younger woman to quietly nod as she ceased her movements. "Honestly, Regina. It truly is a miracle that you can survive on your own." Cora clucked her tongue as she pulled the wrapped sandwiches out of the fridge and moved toward the island to prepare them.

"You know, you don't have to be such a cunt. It's not my fault you're indecisive, and it's not hers, either." Emma's mouth opened before her brain could process the words that spilled out of them. It took her a moment for it to catch up – and Regina's hand squeezing her shoulder – before she realized the pit she just dug herself.

If Cora's eyes could spit fire, she would no doubt be engulfed in flames. The eldest woman stopped in her tracks, dark eyes hateful and voice venomous. " _What_ did you say to me?"

"Nothing, Mother. Why don't you just get your sandwiches? We will leave you alone." Regina said, instead, but Emma stood by her words and tensed in her spot to keep from stepping forward.

"I _said_ that you're an indecisive _cunt_ that blames everything on her daughter. And, here, I thought some of _my_ foster parents were bad." Emma snorted at the thought. "If you love her so much, why do you treat her like shit?"

Cora merely smirked, though, emitting a humorless chuckle as she went back to her sandwiches.

Regina sighed, her eyes closing as she decided against saying another word. The frown on Emma's face only grew as she slowly inched her way to the older woman and wrapped her arms around her. The teacher immediately returned the embrace, her tensed body relaxing against Emma's.

"I hope you two don't plan to copulate on the counter again. We only have a limited amount of bleach and my eyes still burn from the last sanitization." Cora hissed from her spot. Emma nearly squeaked when Regina's grip around her had only tightened, and incredibly so. Her new inability to breathe had her grip releasing from around Regina in hopes that the older woman would at least loosen her own.

" _Sorry_ ," Regina murmured softly before letting go of Emma altogether. "We are not going to _fuck_ , Mother."

" _Regina_ ," Cora suddenly spoke as the younger brunette's lips parted to speak. The irritation was clear as it radiated off Regina when her mother had continued. "I would like to speak with you. _Alone_."

Emma quirked a brow at the oldest woman's request, giving Regina a look before narrowing her eyes when the brunette teacher had gestured towards the door. "I am _not_ leaving you here with her."

"I will be sure to meet up with you when we are finished." Regina had promised, her voice a tired sigh as she rubbed the blonde's arm. " _Please_ , Emma."

With a reluctant sigh, Emma made her way out of the kitchen, letting Cora win for just that moment.

Thoughts buzzed in her mind as she made her way down the hall and to the foyer. Cora's tone had inferred that she wasn't exactly pleased with her daughter's response. Even Emma was surprised when Regina had snapped. Cora was something to deal with and the teacher had seemed to step straight into the awaiting trap.

And what a mighty trap it was. By the time Emma had found herself in the sitting room, she heard shouting come from the other side of the house. The blonde shrank against the couch and waited as it slowly grew quiet.

The prolonged silence had alerted Emma and it was then that she pulled herself from the couch to make her way toward the kitchen, her eyes focused on the doorway, waiting for even the slightest of sounds.

After a few heartbeats, a sudden crash sounded and Emma tensed. That was the sound of glass breaking. That certainly wasn't good.

Before Emma could complete her journey, Cora slipped out of the kitchen with a seething expression on her face. She looked unmarred, though that was to be expected. Emma watched, shrinking against the wall as she passed, keeping silent even as those spiteful eyes landed on her. She sauntered down the hall and disappeared, though not long after, the front door had been slammed shut.

Shaking herself from her momentary shock, the blonde quickly finished her journey to the kitchen. She hoped to find Regina in one piece when she got there and not a mangled mess with a plate smashed over her head.

Relief was like a tidal wave when it washed over her upon spotting the brunette, all in one piece, as she hovered over a pile of broken porcelain and food on the floor.

"I take it she wasn't pleased with lunch?" Emma said, inching her way toward Regina, only to be ushered back.

"There's broken glass and you're not wearing any footwear. I don't want you to cut yourself." The brunette warned, sweeping the mess up into a dust pan before standing up to dump the remains into the garbage.

"What happened? Are you alright, Gina?" The blonde stepped around the mess to follow the teacher around the kitchen, a frown painted on her face. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, sweetheart." Regina paused her ministrations to give the younger woman a reassuring smile. An olive hand rose to gently caress Emma's pale cheek with a single finger.

"Your cheek is red..." Emma dismissed the brunette's reassurance, her palm lying flat against the older woman's warm cheek with a concerned frown.

"It's nothing, Emma." Regina shied away from the blonde's hand and moved to finish cleaning up the mess. "Don't worry about it. I'll survive. I always do."

"I hate this." Emma found herself muttering as she snatched up a dish towel to clean up the residue left on the floor from the egg.

"Cleaning was never your strong suit." Regina's lips twitched as she tried to maintain humor of the situation, though they both knew that wasn't what Emma had meant.

Emma sighed softly, shaking her head with an amused smile as she rinsed out the towel. "Why does she have to screw with you like this?" The blonde continued, turning to face Regina who had immediately averted her gaze.

"I honestly do not know. And I never will." Regina moved to the small broom closet and put away the cleaning items before turning to lean against the counter, her elbows upon the surface. "That woman is nothing but a mystery. I have known her for twenty-eight years of my life and I still don't _know_ her."

"Well, that woman's motives are shit." Emma huffed softly, leaning across from the brunette. "I just wish we could be left alone. Everything is so perfect and I'd hate to lose it."

"I wish that, too, Emma. But it appears that we won't be left alone, not until Cora gets what she wants." Regina slumped into a stool, a defeated sigh falling from her lips. "And we have got nearly an entire week left with that woman."

"At least we'll get eight or more hours away from her on Monday." Emma slipped into the stool next to Regina, wrapping an arm around the older woman.

"Yes. You're right." The brunette nodded slightly, falling silent soon after.

Emma hadn't bothered to speak again, nor did Regina for they sat in silence for the hours to come, keeping each other company as they comforted one another's worries over the entire situation.

* * *

"You're right, Emma, purple _does_ look good on me." Regina's husky voice grabbed Emma's attention as she looked toward the brunette standing in front of the mirror in the closet. The older woman donned a smile that could kill and apparel that brought it justice.

Emma had earlier picked an outfit out for the brunette teacher as she often had, namely out of boredom since she had normally worn about the same outfit every day. But it was also curiosity since Regina appeared to have quite the wardrobe and the blonde had only seen half of it worn on her. That's why she chose a violet blouse hidden between a few lighter shaded ones.

"I told you." The blonde teenager purred, moving to wrap her arms around the brunette from behind, her chin setting on her shoulder as she met those marvelous brown irises in the mirror.

Regina smiled, leaning into Emma as she continued to button the blouse up around her young lover's arms. "I must say I am astonished. I only purchased it because I enjoy the shade of violet. I could never imagine myself in it, though."

"Well, now you know, don't you?" Emma gave her a wry smile before dragging her tongue up her girlfriend's cheek. She pulled away from her to quickly slip her shoes on, the lilt of her lips turning something sardonic as Regina made a noise of disgust.

"You are _not_ a dog, Emma." Regina was wiping at her cheek when the blonde gazed up towards her, the older of the two moving to collect her blazer so they could leave.

The words, though, had only made Emma release a short bout of laughter. She stood, slinging her messenger bag over her shoulder as she followed the older woman out of the bedroom. "Don't complain, Gina. You like it when I lick you."

" _Elsewhere_ , dear. Elsewhere." The teacher shot her a sultry look before traveling down the stairs, only to be stopped by Cora, a brow quirked.

The quip ready to come from Emma's mouth quickly died on her tongue upon spotting the older brunette, her eyes slightly widened. Cora stood there with a sweet smile as she gazed at her daughter, one of her slender fingers brushing against Regina's jawline.

"You wear so much face paint for your job, sweetheart." Regina's mother followed the two of them to the front door as the teacher let out an audible sigh.

"Sometimes I need to cover things up, _Mother_." She turned an accusing glare at the oldest woman. "Now, we need to get going or else we will be late. So, please, Mother."

"I won't keep you, my love." Cora placed a kiss on the English teacher's cheek, directly where Emma had licked Regina just minutes earlier. The blonde smirked, though tried to keep it to herself as she quickly opened the door. "Just do not fall victim to this girl's schedule. She keeps a bad one and I know you better than that, Regina. Do not let her falter your performance."

"My _performance_ is quite alright, Mother." Regina squirmed away from her mother, dodging Cora's hand before she could cup her cheek. "Now, if you would kindly let me go. I will be late."

Cora held her hands up with a simple nod, taking a step back. "Perhaps you should consider leaving earlier and not taking a..." She cast a gaze toward the blonde standing behind the brunette teacher before gesturing at her. "… _detour_ before getting ready."

"What I do with my time is my business, Mother." Regina merely turned around with a shake of her head, ushering the blonde teenager out the door. "I will see you this afternoon."

"I might not be here when you return." Cora simply stated, her hand on the door.

The two exiting the small manor turned toward the oldest woman, Regina's brow quirked at her statement. "Alright."

"Have a nice day, sweetheart." There was a pause in Cora's words before she spoke again, her voice held a bit of hesitancy. "And you, too, Emma."

"Thanks. You, too." The blonde muttered with a nod before scurrying off to the car with Regina in tow.

It wasn't until they were in the car and halfway down the driveway did Regina finally speak, her voice laced with something that sent chills down the blonde's spine. "I wonder where the hell my mother plans on going all day. She has no friends in town."

"I don't know, Gina." Emma frowned, her eyes on the house. "And, frankly, I'm not sure if I want to."

* * *

But at lunchtime, Emma had gotten the answer that was bugging Regina earlier that day. The blonde was at Granny's during her usual routine of dining in before grabbing something for Regina to eat later. She was at the counter with Ruby, who had been taking a lunch break as she usually had when Emma dropped by. The waitress was more than happy to accompany the blonde during lunch, and the boredom on her face told Emma exactly why.

The two of them had been in light conversation about each other's days so far, Emma snacking on a grilled cheese sandwich when the door to the restaurant had opened. It wasn't alarming to the blonde, seeing as to how Granny's _was_ a public restaurant after all, but when she had glanced up from her conversation with Ruby to see the new arrival, her heart skipped a beat.

 _Cora_.

Emma must have been staring at the woman for longer than she had intended because Ruby seemed to have noticed, her hand waving in front of the blonde's face.

"Earth to Emma Swan. Earth to Emma Swan. Does she read?"

The blonde blinked and quickly nodded, tearing her gaze away from Cora who had taken a corner seat by the door, in clear view of Emma. "Y-yeah, she reads."

"What the hell has got you?" The waitress quirked a brow before turning the stool to follow Emma's previous gaze, but she came up short. "What? I don't see anything."

"It's nothing." Emma merely shrugged, giving her friend a reassuring smile. Though when the brunette had continued with a roll of her eyes, the blonde couldn't help but to let her gaze slip past her and to Cora as she seemed to be talking on a phone. Her eyes narrowed in on the older woman, curious as to who was on the other line.

"Okay, Emma, come clean." Ruby snapped the blonde's attention back to her friend, her eyes widened. "You've been staring at _something_."

"No, I haven't." The blonde lied and the waitress detected it right away.

"Then what did I just say?"

"'Okay, Emma, come clean?'" Emma quickly popped a fry into her mouth, giving her friend a bad poker face.

"Girl, there's a special place in hell for you." Ruby clucked before taking a sip of her iced tea. Setting it down, she leaned forward with a smirk. "Tell me. Who is it?"

"Who is what?" Emma blinked, dropping her next fry back onto the plate. Her eyes quickly went to Cora, who had now sat there with an idle stare at the menu.

"You've seen this place a million times before, Em. And there are no animals allowed in here. Obviously it's a person that's caught your eye." Ruby swiveled the chair around once again, looking to Emma before turning her attention back to the small number of patrons in the room.

"It's no one, Rubes." Emma huffed, quickly breaking contact with Cora as she paid attention to her lunch. "Did you say that there was someone that checked into the Bed and Breakfast?"

"Yeah." Ruby turned back around, giving her friend a suspicious stare. "On Saturday."

"Who... Uh, who was that?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Can't I just ask? You're the one complaining that I'm not paying attention to you." Emma shrugged.

Ruby did as well, her perfectly manicured nails tapping on the counter. "It was that one redheaded woman again. I forgot her name, but she looked familiar. I wonder why she's back in town."

"That one... redheaded..." Emma's brows furrowed for a moment as she tried to think of who that was. And then it hit her like a slap to the face. It couldn't possibly be _her_ , could it? Why would she be back in town?

The blonde's gaze slid back over to Cora, and for a moment, their eyes met. And she _smiled_ ; something that sent chills down Emma's spine.

"Oh, Gods, it's Cora," Ruby muttered, breaking the contact with Cora as Emma more than happily turned her attention back to her friend.

"You know her?" Emma was surprised that Ruby had, her own emerald orbs widening.

"Yeah. You know Ms. Mills?" The brunette quirked a brow at her friend, leaning in as if it were some big secret. When Emma merely nodded, Ruby had continued with a hushed whisper. "That's her mother."

"Really?" Emma played along, feigning surprise as the woman of subject had throughout her visit.

"Yeah. I've seen the two of them come in here before. Well... a long, long time ago. But I heard Ms. Mills refer to her as 'mother' when they got into arguments. Which was a lot as I remember." Ruby's eyes moved to subtly look at Cora who paid no attention to the two of them as she enjoyed a steaming cup of coffee.

"They argued in public? A-About what?" Emma quickly finished off her sandwich, eyes flicking to the clock before returning to her best friend. She would have to leave soon.

"I don't know. Stuff about her controlling Ms. Mills' life or something. I was young when I heard most of it. Then they just stopped coming here some odd years ago. I hadn't seen that woman since." Ruby's eyes landed on Cora once again. "Imagine my surprise when I went to high school and found out the Regina arguing with her mother was the English teacher."

"Weird." Emma muttered. Most of the details she had known, of course, but hearing about the two of them bringing this to public light was alarming.

"Tell me about it. I felt kinda sorry for Ms. Mills with a mom like that." Ruby chuckled softly, popping up from her seat after catching a glance at the clock. "You better get going. Grilled cheese to go, right?"

"Yeah." Emma quickly nodded, taking a hasty sip of her soda as she hopped up as well. "Ms. Mills sends her regards."

"Oh, I bet she does." Ruby gave Emma a wink before she moved back to the kitchen to gather the to-go meal as the blonde waited for her. She returned moments later with a smirk. "I know you still like her."

"I will not disclose such information, Ruby." Emma wrinkled her nose at the brunette waitress before snatching the bag from her hand. "But I'm sure you'll find out the answer some time in the future, huh?"

"Oh, will I?" Ruby leaned against the counter on her elbows. "What's _really_ going on?"

"I need to go."

"Oh, come on! You can't do that!"

"Yes, I can." The blonde smirked as she made her way out of the diner, hastily making sure that she didn't have to release any more information to her friend than she already had. But in her haste out the door, she had run into another person, forcing her to recoil backwards as she dropped the bag.

"I am _so_ sorry!" Emma was quick to apologize, bending to quickly gather the bag she had dropped.

"Don't worry about." The voice before her spoke. The blonde nodded, not even catching the woman's face as she made her way down the path to get back to school before her next class started.

* * *

"I found out where your mother's at." Emma looked up to Regina from the latter woman's desk after the bell had dismissed fourth period.

The English teacher shooed the blonde from her seat and took it, a brow quirked. "And, where is she?"

"Granny's." Emma lowered herself onto Regina's lap, her arms wrapping around the older woman as she made herself comfortable. She knew that she shouldn't linger here long. After all, she did have a class to go to. But Regina would write her a pass and the class wasn't much. It was only aerobics, after all.

Regina instantly wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist, tugging her closer. "I don't expect her to eat every meal at home, alone."

"Well, no. I wasn't meaning _that_ as a bad thing." Emma nuzzled closer against the brunette, enjoying the proximity. "But, uh, she _was_ talking on the phone with... someone."

"Was she?" Regina quirked a brow, suddenly interested. Her grip slightly tightened, those mocha irises sparkling with concern. "I wonder who that would be..."

"I don't know, Gina." Emma pressed a kiss to the brunette's cheek before slipping out of her lap. "I'm sure you can ask her when we get home if you need to. She saw me at the diner."

Regina reached for Emma's hand, her fingers entwining with the younger woman's. "Is there anything else?" She gazed up at the blonde, those very eyes piercing into Emma's own. Her brows furrowed, the grip on Emma's hand only tightening when the teenager remained quiet. "There is, isn't there?"

"Maybe." Emma murmured, her thumb moving to stroke the top of the olive toned flesh laced with hers.

Regina didn't falter when she queried next, the demanding tone to her voice, harnessing a hint of annoyance. "Maybe? Emma, tell me."

"Zelena." The blonde soon muttered. "Ruby said that Zelena came back to town."

"You..." Regina's brows furrowed now, her fingers falling from the grip. "You don't think that those two might be...?"

"I don't know." Emma shrugged. "If what you told me was true, then there's nothing to worry about. But I shudder to think there would be something going on between them."

"If those two are conspiring with one another... I cannot... I _cannot_. Mother gave Zelena away for a reason and I know she is not one to accept back willingly. After she had kicked me out, it took more effort than needed to convince her to tuck me back into bed, you see?" Regina closed her eyes for a moment, whatever unpleasant thoughts running through the teacher's head had her grip tightening on Emma's hand. "And within those few months' time to accept Zelena into her home, or what have you, after not knowing her _at all_? That woman is nothing but a stranger to us all and for Mother to... to...

"Why would that woman know so much about me? Mother wouldn't be willing to spare such information to someone that she had just met." There was a spark in her eye as if she just had an epiphany, but that didn't sate Emma's worries. "Did they know each other _before_ Zelena ever came here? Why else would mother be so keen on visiting me after years of... of virtual abandonment? If those two _are_ speaking to one another, then... It must have been _years_ ago."

"Gina?"

"My mother has played me. She has _played_ me and over did it this time. My strings are breaking, Emma." Regina released the blonde's hand. "But _why_?"

"Maybe... it's not true? Maybe they aren't talking to each other or anything and we're just getting ahead of ourselves." Emma tried so hard to reassure the brunette, but she knew Regina was starting to fall apart at the seams as she digested this new information.

"I can only hope so." Regina stood from her spot, eyes locked in on emerald ones. "I don't want to think why all of this is happening right now. I... I wish we could be left alone, Emma. I really do. And I know you do, too."

"We'll get through this, Gina." Emma frowned, the guilt eating her away. She knew that she had made her lover's day far worse than it had already been. Her hand found its way to Regina's arm, trying to give it a reassuring caress.

"There is too much that I'm worried about, Emma. I have no doubt about what you say. But what Cora is planning, why she is here... Why _is_ she here?" Regina shook her head, one hand curling into golden locks as the other snaked around Emma's waist, pulling the teenager into a tight embrace. "You need to get to class, honey."

"I-I don't have to if you need me, I'll stay." The blonde buried her nose in the brunette locks, inhaling her sweet and spicy scent.

"Emma..." Regina breathed softly, pulling her away. One of those perfect brows quirked, leaving Emma to don a sheepish smile. "You need to get your butt to class, alright? I'll need you more after school when we head home."

"Damn." Emma huffed softly, stealing a quick kiss before she pulled from her lover altogether. Regina chuckled softly and took her spot once again, snatching up that pad of papers to write a pass out for the blonde. "That class sucks sometimes."

"Perhaps I will be able to visit you sometime?" Regina smirked up at her lover, handing the green slip to her. "I can watch you... _run_."

"You would like that too much, wouldn't you, Gina?" Emma giggled softly, taking the pass. "We do yoga, too. I bet you'd _love_ to see that."

That smirk only grew on the older woman's face. "Perhaps you should give me a private lesson at home?"

"I'll take note to remember what the fuck we do, then."

" _Language_ , Emma."

Emma scowled slightly, though she could help but to give a short giggle. "You haven't cared for a _long_ time now."

"You need to get going, _booboo kitty fuck_." Whiskey eyes like molten lava gazed up at her, both devious and humored.

"I should have never let you watch that movie." Emma narrowed her eyes at the older woman, the latter's nose twitching. "And don't you go there about me saying _that_ , either."

"Oh, but you just _had_ to, Emma." The brunette broke her gaze to open the bag of her rapidly cooling lunch. She pulled out the tin foil wrapped sandwich and started to peel it out. "And right in the middle of an intimate moment."

Emma playfully jutted out her lower lip. "You said you liked the dirty talk."

" _Go_ , Emma."

"Oh, is Ms. Mills going to get all snappy on me now?" Emma leaned against the desk, staring at the teacher.

"Do _not_ torment me, _Miss Swan_." Regina eyed the hands planted on her desk before drawing her gaze to meet with the blonde's. "You need to get your ass to class."

"Don't get your panties in a knot, Ms. Mills." The blonde smirked, but it didn't last long as she let her expression drop as well as her voice. "But you aren't wearing any, now, are you?"

Regina licked her slowly lips. Emma could feel herself start to buzz with excitement as she stood still in her spot. It was true. Regina went without panties today only because their time was waning... and the ones that she had worn before their tumble-about on the bed had flown somewhere unknown.

But Emma knew that the older woman could have just drawn some from the closet, a fresh and new pair. Regina just didn't want to. That woman was wearing one of her skirts today and decided to _taunt_ Emma with the knowledge.

"Get moving, _clit whisperer_ , or there _will_ be trouble." The brunette teacher growled, taking a bit of her sandwich.

"You used it!" Emma couldn't help but to laugh as she abided, satisfied. "And you better believe it, Gina. You'd know better than anyone."

" _Emma_!" A balled-up paper hit the blonde on her way out, forcing her to only laugh harder, chuckling like a madwoman as she walked down the hallway.

* * *

"She isn't here." Regina entered the master bedroom, dark eyes on the blonde perched upon the mattress.

"Well, she _did_ say that she might not be when we got home." The blonde let out a soft sigh at her girlfriend's wariness and held out her arms, inviting the brunette into them. Regina abided the request, walking straight into Emma's arms with her own wrapped tightly around her neck.

"Even more reason to believe she's out conspiring with my sister."

" _Gina_..." Emma sighed softly, rubbing the older woman's back.

"I'm sorry, Emma. I've been... on edge all day." Regina slipped into the younger woman's lap, straddling the jean-clad legs. "I wish that I could forget that any of this is happening. I really do."

"Don't be. I understand." The blonde sighed softly, a hand moving up to cup her lover's cheek as she kissed her sweetly, hoping to sate their worry for the moment. But she could feel the tenseness in Regina's muscles, and they were not exactly faltering yet. "I don't like this any more than you do."

"Emma..." Regina sighed softly, lowering her lips to Emma's in a smoldering kiss that had caught the blonde off guard. She didn't protest, though, as she returned it, her lips tasting the sweet ones of her lover's.

Emma groaned softly against the brunette's mouth, her pale hands falling to Regina's hips. If this was Regina's idea of forgetting their situation, Emma didn't have much of a problem with it.

The brunette woman made a soft noise, her lips breaking from Emma's as she trailed them along soft, pale skin. There was a soft gasp that fell from Emma's lips when Regina had merely continued to trail her lips down to the slender column of the blonde's neck.

Emma slid her hands back up the brunette's sides to unbutton her violet blouse. She was successful in her attempt for her hands soon found the older woman's warm skin, her pale fingers sliding across the tawny abdomen as Regina hadn't relented with her gentle teases.

"Perhaps going panty-less today was a good idea..." Regina growled huskily, her mouth drawing up to press the softest of kisses to Emma's lips. "Makes it far easier for you."

"But I'm wearing pants?" Emma whined softly, kissing the brunette again, her hands sliding up to cover the lace covered mounds on Regina's chest. The older woman groaned softly, her back arching against the palms.

"Indeed." Regina hummed, turning to look behind them for a moment. "We should close the door in case my mother returns."

"Good idea..." The blonde narrowed her eyes at the teacher, though she didn't argue as she removed her hands.

Regina chuckled softly, pressed a kiss to her lips, and slipped from Emma's lap to get the door. But just as she was in the process of doing that, the front door shut and her mother's voice rang through the house. The fire between Emma's thighs was extinguished immediately as she popped up from the bed, panicking.

"Goddammit, Mother." The brunette muttered under her breath, hands flying to button up her blouse.

"Regina, darling, where are you? I'm home." Cora's voice grew louder until she was in the doorway, smiling at her daughter who had hastily fixed her outfit. "How was your day, darling?"

"I-It was fine, Mother." The brunette breathed, stuffing the last bit of her purple blouse into her skirt. Emma still watched from her spot, though she had settled back down on the mattress

"What is wrong with you, Regina?" It was a moment that Regina's mother had taken to look at the two of them, noticing her daughter's disheveled state and the fidgeting, and clearly flustered, Emma on the bed. Then her eyes fell to something on the floor, just a few inches from her own feet.

Emma's own gaze fell to what had the oldest woman's attention, eyes widening when she had noticed Regina's lost panties from this morning.

 _Oh shit._

"Again, with your disgusting... activities." Cora growled, gesturing toward Emma, who in return had stared at the woman with wide eyes.

Regina spoke, a scowl on her face. "Mother, _please_. We have been through this a thousand times before. I am not going to change, so stop trying. It is futile."

Those weren't the right words as either one had hoped. Instead of calming and abiding those words, they had only fueled the anger evidently boiling up within Cora. The older brunette reached out and grabbed her daughter's chin, forcing the younger woman's head towards her.

"I will not tolerate you speaking to me like that, Regina Mills. I recommend you change your tone."

"I recommend you take your hands off her." Emma stood from her spot, ready to lurch toward the woman who, surprised by the sudden outburst from the youngest woman, let go of her daughter.

Emma tensed in her spot now, eyes on Cora who returned it – something that felt like it killed her soul.

Regina, when the blonde's gaze fell to the teacher whose hand fell from her face, was still, as if she had a red dot fixated on her forehead. It her attention went back to the lawyer when she began to speak.

"Who do you think you are, _child_?" She started to move toward the blonde, but Regina's voice stopped her.

" _Mother_ ," she began coldly, taking Cora's attention away from her lover. "Let us not do this here. Let us not do this _now_. I am growing weary of your arguments against my sexuality. Why the hell is it such a big deal for me to be heterosexual? Why bother me to change when I never will?"

"Because, Regina, I cannot pass down my com-"

"Your company! Your firm! Is that all this is about, _Cora_?" The brunette literally growled, surprising the two of them. Emma suspected that woman to rip her own mother's throat out at any given moment now, but she hadn't. She remained there with eyes so molten, the fire of them could burn Cora's hide.

"Of course not, Regina." A cold smile crossed over her features. "I just wish for my daughter to be _normal_. Is that too much to ask for?"

"Yes!" Regina's eyes seemed to glisten in the light of the sun. "Don't you have your _other_ daughter to take my place? As far as I know, she _is_ normal. She is everything that you desire and you tossed her aside. Or _did_ you?"

There was a hesitant pause in Cora's step before she sneered, the emotion flickering over her face gone within moments. "You simply do not understand, my love. It is far too complicated than you will ever conceive. I wish for you to stand down, leave this sickened, worthless piece of trash that could surely ruin your life, and find someone worth it. Someone that can give you the life that you deserve."

Emma's heart skipped a beat at Cora's comment about her, her own blood raging to a boil.

"It is one thing to insult me, Mother, to degrade my life and criticize every little thing that I do. But it is another to insult an innocent. To insult the woman that I _love_. I will not tolerate this degree of inhumanity." There was nothing but unadulterated anger on Regina's features. Emma had never seen such a side of Regina and, least to say, it was one of the most terrifying things that she had ever lain her eyes on.

" _Woman_? She is merely a girl, Regina. How can you not get that through your thick skull?" Cora merely laughed, remaining unabashed by the anger radiating off her daughter.

"I want you to leave, Mother. I am _tired_ of having to deal with your control over me. I appreciate that you had gotten me this far, I really do, but you have gone way too far with this. I wish that you would find it in your blackened, withered heart to leave me the hell alone." Regina's cheeks were stained with tears, her entire body shaking as Emma had continued to watch quietly. "Do what you wish with me. Disown me for a second time. Just let me live in peace."

But Cora had answered in the most unexpected of ways; her voice had remained cool as she raised both hands in the air. "If you wish for me to leave you alone, Regina, so be it."

Regina stared blankly at her mother as the older woman backed away, a sinister smile on her lips. Emma could only stare, her mouth gaping. That was _too_ easy.

"Mother?" Regina's voice was hesitant, quiet – a far cry from her earlier speech.

"You may have your wish, Regina, but it does come with a price. I do hope you enjoy being unemployed, because after this, you will never step foot into another school again. You will have great troubles trying to find another job after I am through with you." The smirk on Cora's face sent a shiver down Emma's spine. "I give you the house, I will let you keep as much. You'll need it. Your funds will not last you long."

"Y-you can't do this, Mother." The brunette teacher's voice was emotionless, her face equally as devoid.

The blonde's heart pounded in her ears as panic welled within her. What the hell were they going to do now? There was not a chance on Earth that Cora would ever be willing to change her mind now. Not after that.

"Oh, I do believe I can, darling." The lawyer laughed coldly. "Perhaps I will be nice enough to let you finish out the rest of the school year, if I can find it in my blackened, withered heart to."

" _No_... Mother, please. Think this through." Regina stepped toward her mother, reaching out to her as if desperately trying to undo the last twenty minutes of their conversation. But Cora had merely smacked her hand away and turned to leave the room.

"You have diminished all chances that I had given you, Regina." She kept walking even as she spoke, forcing Regina to chase after her with new pleads falling from her lips. Emma popped up, too invested to let the conversation walk away from her. She had kept her distance, though, watching from the top of the stairs as Cora opened the front door with Regina standing in the middle of the foyer.

"Please don't do this, Mother..." Regina pleaded, rushing towards her mother once again.

"Save it, Regina. You had already destroyed your chances with me. You are no longer a daughter of mine." Cora's eyes narrowed in on the brunette teacher. "If I were you, I would resign before I report you to the school board. Maybe then you can salvage your pathetic life."

"M... Mother..." Regina was pushed away after her last attempt to reach the very woman that she had pushed away minutes ago. She stared at her mother as the older woman stepped through the threshold, still donning that sardonic smirk.

"Heed my advice because it is the last that you will ever receive from me." Cora glared to the small woman as she pulled the door closed, but not after calling behind her just before the door clicked.

"I wish you luck in Boston."


	26. Prologue to a Greater Plan

"Gina?" Emma's voice was naught but a mere whisper in the darkness of the bedroom. The inquiry clung in the air, left unanswered as she dropped her messenger bag onto the floor beside the bed.

"Are you awake?" She asked once again, though her tone had been so quiet she wasn't sure if Regina would have been able to hear her from the position that she took. The brunette's back was facing her; she could make out the delicate contour of her lover's body.

Her breathing was steady, her side gently rising and falling with each breath. One arm was tucked under her head as the other disappeared in front of her. Her body was curled up on top of the blankets, almost as if she were trying to form into a ball.

It wasn't until Emma was crawling onto the right side of the bed that she had realized where exactly the brunette had been laying. Regina had taken over the blonde's side of the bed, her face pressed against the younger woman's pillow as she slept, earning a sweet smile from the teenager.

Regina must have missed the blonde while she was gone.

Emma had been spending the weekend with her parents as she often found herself doing. She had crammed in her time with the two over the past month since she was planning on leaving by the end of the school year – which was rearing up faster than ever now.

The thought of Regina doing this because of Emma's absence sent a pang of guilt washing over her. She absolutely hated being away from her brunette girlfriend, but the two of them knew that she had other priorities in her life – though the blonde felt as if Regina were her highest one.

Over the past month, the two of them only grew closer together. They would be moving away from what they have grown to know and would be living together in a larger city.

The thought was both exciting and terrifying. Neither one knew where their relationship was going to be by this year's end. What they were doing was rather drastic, especially since they might not be able to go back on it.

Or at least Regina couldn't.

The brunette was thinking about what her mother had told her before she left and had lamented to Emma on several occasions about. They had discussed their options, though there were few. Regina had already planned on quitting her job here in Storybrooke, but the question was about the job she was intending to acquire in Boston.

Would her mother try to threaten that job away from her also?

Surely the brunette lawyer will have known about that as well, since she already had terrifying knowledge of Regina's plan on moving to the bigger city.

But that was only another thing to add onto the large list of worrisome thoughts. Regina had been thinking herself sick about everything, and so much so that she had fallen into a state that even Emma had never thought she'd see the brunette in.

Even though the brunette remained well-groomed and collect on the outside, she was unkempt and screaming on the inside. She was falling apart at the seams and the emotions taking over the teacher had terrified Emma to every extent there was.

Emma, herself, was starting to feel much like Regina, though she refrained from letting herself keep within the darkness overwhelming her for too long. She needed to be strong enough for them both until Cora's reign of horror was over with.

If that day would ever come.

The blonde let out a soft sigh, pushing away the sudden drought of emotion that washed over her. She wasn't going to allow herself to become victim of what had taken over Regina. The feeling was something unpleasant and she absolutely hated it.

Emma closed her eyes for a moment as she scooted toward Regina's small frame, an arm curling around the brunette's midsection, causing her to stir slightly. The younger woman only tightened her grip, reassuring the teacher that she was there when Regina began to speak.

"I'm home, and I sure as hell am glad." Emma whispered softly, burying her nose in the sweet-scented raven locks before her. "I've missed you."

" _Mmph_ , I've missed you, too." Regina murmured, yawning softly as she turned into the blonde, facing her with those loving coffee eyes. "It's late."

"Yeah, I know..." The blonde lay her head on the pillow next to Regina's, her voice apologetic. "Mary Margaret and David wanted to take me out to dinner. And then they kept me for a while, talking about graduation and plans to give me that Bug."

"Oh?" Another yawn tore itself from the brunette's throat, causing the blonde to giggle softly before she, too, yawned in reaction. "What did they say?"

"They'll give it to me on graduation day. After the ceremony, y'know?"

Regina smiled lightly when Emma had placed a gentle hand on her cheek, her face turning into it as she savored the contact. "That's nice of them."

Emma absently nodded, the pad of her thumb making rhythmic strokes against the olive cheek below it. A smile curved her lips as she watched Regina savor the touch, her eyes slightly closing while she nuzzled against the hand with a faint purr.

"Gina?"

"Yes, my swan?" Those sparkling brown eyes opened and Emma realized that her lover wasn't in her haunting mood. She was happy today and that just made the blonde's heart soar.

"I love you..."

The smile that those words had earned could have exploded Emma's heart. It was bright, radiating like a vat of sunshine. Then those lips were on the blonde's before she could gather her wits, moving against her pale ones in a slow, tender kiss.

Emma made a soft noise as she returned the kiss, the palm of her hand flattening against Regina's cheek until the latter pulled away with a breathless smile.

"I love you, too, Emma." There was a pause as she pressed closer to Emma. "I love you more than anything, though that may not say a lot since I really have nothing much in my life... But I _do_ value you more than I value my life and I would _gladly_ give it up just for you."

"Gina..." Emma frowned, her hand falling to the thigh wrapped around her own. "Don't say that. I'm not worth giving up your life for. You deserve to live."

"But not if that means you die, Emma. You have your entire life ahead of you, I would hate to see it be wasted."

"That won't happen. A situation like that... Unlikely." The younger woman quickly shook her head, holding that small brunette in front of her even closer. She feared the thought of ever having to lose Regina, especially to a force that could never be reversed.

The brunette nodded slightly, snuggling into the blonde, her face getting lost in the long, golden mane.

"I'm glad that you're feeling better." Emma found herself murmuring after a moment of silence. The limbs around her tightened, forcing the blonde to blink. Had she said something wrong?

"I have been feeling better for quite some time, Emma. I just worry myself too much at times." The confirmation to her statement tided her fears.

The younger woman smiled, pale fingers snaking into dark locks.

Regina merely smiled, tugging that blonde in closer. "I've done some thinking, and you being here has helped quite a bit."

"Have I?" The blonde blinked, earning a slight nod.

"You always have, Emma. You kept me from slipping into the shadowy depths of this godforsaken hell." The brunette teacher shifted slightly until she was untangled from the blonde and on her back, staring absently up at the ceiling.

"I've got to thinking about how my attitude is affecting you. I... I've noticed that you haven't exactly been your upbeat self lately and you're constantly fretting over me. I cannot have that. I'm acting so..."

"You're depressed, Regina." Emma murmured softly, a frown claiming her lips. "You can't help it."

"But I need to, Emma. I cannot live the rest of my life like this. I need to pull myself up and brush the dirt off." Regina turned a haughty glare to her girlfriend, though the mood soon vanished into something of sorrow. Those chestnut eyes melted, tears glistening in them.

The brunette swallowed thickly in the otherwise quiet room. Her voice was hoarse as she spoke her next words, her eyes sliding back towards the darkened ceiling. The dark void that seemed to swallow her up. "I know that you know how this feels, Emma, and I only wish that you never had to feel such lowliness in your life. You shouldn't have to go through this at your age. It just isn't right."

"It's okay," Emma murmured softly, her fingers gently skating across the teacher's bare arm.

Regina immediately wrapped her arms tight around the blonde, seeking solace in golden locks. "You are my rock. And you're still here, even though you could have given up on me so long ago..."

"There's no way I would ever give up on you, Regina. I'm here because I know _exactly_ how you feel. I'm glad that I can just be of use and help you through this." The blonde's fingers fell into place once again, drawing tender circles along the brunette's back.

And for the first time in a long time, that very smile shone upon Regina's face. A gentle, genuine smile broke across her full lips; the one that Emma had been waiting for, for so long.

"There it is. I've missed it." Emma whispered, one hand moving to cup the older woman's face, her thumb brushing over that curve on her lips.

"I'm sorry that I haven't been happier for you, Emma. I've been such a damned downer and that should change. I cannot put you through all this. You don't deserve it." Regina whispered, a look of guilt crossing over her features.

"Hey... don't worry about that, huh? It's not like you can help it and I'm not some ignorant asshole that's gonna tell you to lighten the fuck up and get over it."

"I wish it were just that easy..."

"Me too..." Emma whispered, pale fingers sliding through raven locks once again.

Regina's brows furrowed slightly, a moment of silence passing between them before she spoke once again with a hesitant tone. "When you are around, Emma... my world doesn't appear to be so bleak. You are the single flame in the cave in which I had lost myself. You are ever aiding me to the ultimate goal, the brighter light... The exit to this hell. I... I can't thank you enough for all that you have done for me, Emma Swan."

"No. Don't do that, Gina." Emma offered her a soft smile, her hand falling once again to rub circles against her back. "You know what you mean to me."

"There's something about you, my duck, and I thank whatever force that brought us together." She smiled and reached for the younger woman's hand.

"So do I." The blonde smiled softly, pressing a kiss to her lover's forehead.

"Just hold me, Emma, and I will be fine." Regina murmured softly and nuzzled closer.

"Of course, Gina." Emma wrapped her arms tightly around Regina as the older woman shifted, half her body on the blonde.

"I will tell Mr. Gold tomorrow about my decision."

"What?" Emma blinked at the sudden declaration, eyes popping open to stare down at the brunette. Regina merely nodded and gazed back up at her, a slight smile on her lips.

"The other part of my thoughts. Since I am feeling more... motivated, I have decided that I will speak with Mr. Gold about my resigning. No matter what, I will have to do just that before we can leave for Boston." She elaborated, her head falling back against the blonde's breast. "I know that I should have done it sooner... it would have eased my mind about my mother beforehand. But..."

"Okay." Emma murmured, her hand slipping underneath the back of the brunette's silk tank.

"Okay." Regina nodded slightly, shifting as the hairs on her body rose from the contact. "I only hope that it isn't too late."

"It won't be."

"I hope not." Regina murmured softly, moving fitfully in her spot before settling with closed eyes.

* * *

 **ABOUT TWO MONTHS LATER**

The sound of the doorbell echoed throughout the estate, interrupting both Regina and Emma as they sat on the couch in the sitting room, the latter's laptop perched on each's thigh while they planned what they were going to do for the blonde's upcoming graduation.

And they were currently in the middle of browsing dresses for said event when the doorbell had rung and interrupted Emma from pointing out a small, crimson number that she made a comment about wanting to see Regina in.

The brunette shot her young lover a negative look before setting the computer onto the coffee table so she could answer the door. Emma was right behind her within seconds, scurrying close as the older woman made her way to the foyer.

" _Emma_..." she whispered, shooing the blonde away. "We don't know who that is, unless you're expecting someone?"

Emma quickly shook her head, soon realizing exactly what she had been doing. The blonde hung back in the doorway to the sitting room as Regina pulled open the front door.

" _Zelena_ , what brings you here?" That had piqued the teenager's interest as she soon found herself beside Regina, a brow quirked.

"Our mother. I would like to think you might appreciate the information that I bring to you." Zelena took the liberty to see herself in, forcing her younger sister to step back.

Regina's eyes narrowed, suspicion prickling the hairs on the back of her neck. "And what exactly do you have to tell me? I thought you had only talked with Cora once."

"About that..."

"Why the hell are you here? To spy on me for that woman?" The brunette stood stark upright, glaring at the auburn-haired woman before her. "I should have known you had been associating with her the moment that you entered my house. All that information? She wouldn't have told you that within just one day."

"That is why I am here. I want to explain myself to you. I..." Zelena looked between her sister and the blonde that stood next to her, and then back. "I want to warn you about what that woman plans on doing."

"Why on Earth would you warn me? How could I ever trust the likes of _you_ , Zelena, when you had come into my home and so blatantly lied to my face?"

"You lied to me, too, little sister." She was prickling moments later, those pale eyes shooting daggers at the darker woman in front of her. " _Barren?_ I mean, come on! Sure, sterility may be an indirect problem if your lover is that of the same gender... And to think this... _girl_ wasn't anything the way that she had been acting with you that day. I am not stupid nor blind." Zelena scoffed and Regina nearly lunged at her.

Instead, the brunette remained in her spot, expression stoic and stone cold. "Either tell me about Mother, or leave. I will not have you arguing with me over this once again."

"Fine." Zelena bit, her arms crossing over the deep, forest green dress that she wore. "But I suggest we find someplace more comfortable to have this conversation."

Without a word, Regina lifted an arm toward the sitting room before marching in the direction. Emma followed as well as Zelena until the thrice of them had found their designated spots. Regina and Emma sat hip to hip on the couch as Zelena took the chair kitty-corner.

"Please, enlighten me with the information that you bring. What is Mother's plan?"

Zelena shifted slightly in her spot as if to get more comfortable, soon wetting her lips before she spoke, her crisp accent filling the room. "Her plan equates to something far more sinister than even my wildest of imaginations could muster. That woman had snatched me up the moment that she had realized that I could be used as a pawn in her game. This game of hers was not fair... she wasn't fair."

"But that woman is _never_ fair." Regina mumbled, her lip curled.

"I know. She had cheated her way across the board as she always had in life, playing her role as the ruthless lawyer, tearing through mere innocents to get to where she wanted. Cora wanted nothing of me. She had merely feigned her sympathy as she took me under her wing. She only needed me to fly to you, my dear sister. I now understand of why you were quick to reject even the smallest of offers from that woman.

"It wasn't easy to sit that woman down long enough to convince her to let me in. It took weeks, near months until she had decided that I was adequate to take over the business that she had so evidently cherished. I would say that woman loved her firm more than the children that had grown in her womb.

"But it had all been just a mere ploy, in her natural habit. Though, I am not here to share the daily gossip and pity stories with you, little sister. I am here to warn you of what mother has waiting up her sleeve.

"Now that she had banished me from her kingdom, I come to you with a plea. Please hear me out and be warned. Cora will stop at nothing until she gets your blonde lover away from you. She wants to revert you to her side. She wants you to be _normal_ , however she plans that." The older woman sighed, bringing her attention back to her younger sister as she had finished, her hands placed delicately on her lap.

"I already know that, Zelena. Mother was so easy to tell me what she wanted, and if she hadn't so blatantly said it, I could still read her enough to figure out her plan." Regina was now shifting impatiently in her spot on the couch, those coffee eyes staring her sister down. The hand that she had slipped into Emma's only tightened the more her irritation rose.

"In due time, little sis. It is pointless to take a side when I get nothing in return. Why I am ever helping the likes of you, I never know. Perhaps I am in a generous mood, or my need for revenge is burning something fierce. But alas, I will not repeat this a second time, so hear me well." The auburn-haired woman sensed her younger sister's annoyance, for she shifted almost uncomfortably in her spot with a heated scowl of her own.

Zelena's words only made Emma squeak as the teacher's grip never faltered, her upper lip baring with disgust. "Then get to the damned point. I do not care _what_ side you are on, _you_ came here to tell me of our mother's plan, so do it. My patience is wearing thin."

"Yes, yes. Cora is planning on following you to Boston, track you down, what have you. She knows that you have finally moved to resign from your job – that woman has eyes and ears all over this town. But I assume that you know of her knowledge, for she had threatened that very thing of you during her departure.

"But that is not all that she knows. She also has knowledge of your plan on seeking employment at the very university that your young partner will be attending. Before you ask how she has knowledge of such information, I told you that she has eyes and ears all over this town... and more specifically in your bedroom in that stuffed rag of yours." There was a slight hesitance in Zelena's words

"How the hell do I know you're even telling the truth, Zelena? For all I know, you're still on Mother's side. No Mills woman can ever be trusted, especially ones associated with _her_." Regina was quick to bite back, wariness prickling the hairs on the back of her neck. She always had a feeling that there was something wrong with that bear her mother had given her. Cora wouldn't be so willing to hand back something from the brunette's childhood, especially something that she had grown so fond of during that time.

And that woman's knowledge of everything was alarming. Though she hadn't trusted her elder sister, she had an inkling that woman was telling her the truth.

"If you do not believe me, check the stitching on the back. Tear it open. Squeeze it. It's in there. I'm the one that had implanted the bug for her."

" _You?_ You've been spying on us?" Regina growled angrily. "This is even more reason I should not trust a single word coming from your mouth. You could be lying, even about the bug."

"I cannot bring my very eyes to meet yours with some of the things that had been picked up from the device and I blush to think about it, but the information was valuable when you had conversations within distance of the bear...

"I cannot tell you exactly what mother has planned when she sees to it to bring herself to Boston with you, but she wants nothing more than that girl's head on a platter and you attached to a leash. She will stop at nothing to tear you two apart, even if that means destroying the very thing that you love. That is all I can warn you of, so I recommend that you prepare yourselves and watch your backs. Heed my advice before you become another victim of that woman's treachery."

"I already am a victim of Cora, Zelena. I have been for twenty-eight years. You have told me nothing of value." Regina coldly stated, standing from her spot.

"Well, don't say that I hadn't warned you, dear sister. When you find Emma six feet underground by this month's end, do not come crying to me. My shoulder will be far away from all this drama." Then she stood, coolly gliding toward the foyer with Regina to follow.

The words that she had just spoken sliced through the brunette's heart like a knife through butter. She had no doubt her mother would turn to violence if nothing else worked, and there was not a doubt in her mind that Cora would even be willing to kill Emma if the time came, and the price right.

The faintest of noises bubbled within her throat at the thought. She quickly reached behind her to seek out Emma's hand, her heart squeezing in her chest when she had found it.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" She lightly inquired before Zelena could open the front door.

The older woman paused, slowly turning around to find large, brown eyes reflecting on her. Zelena's own pale eyes fell to their tangled hands, a flash of emotion flickered in them, disappearing before Regina could make out what it was. Then she brought those hesitant eyes back up to meet with her sister's, her voice quiet as she spoke.

"Because I can see the love between you two, and I have heard the idle conversation after Mother was long off to bed. I can see, even now, how strong you two adore each other, and I know that it is something _rare_ to have a love like that." Zelena shifted, leaning against the door for a moment as she looked between the duo, her lips twitching when she saw the two lovers share a warm glance with each other as they contemplated those words.

"I was so blinded by Mother's offer that I hadn't thought to actually take a _look,_ to see things as you see them _,_ unlike Cora who just wants nothing more than for her daughter to be her version of normal. But normality is not something we should live by." There was a slight pause as Zelena exhaled, a haunted look on her face. "We are all different in some way, and that's okay. I was never disgusted by the fact that you were homosexual. In fact, one of my friends had turned out to be gay and I covered for him often."

"Really?" Regina's eyes widened slightly at the new information, earning a nod from her older sister. The redheaded woman's information was easing the prickling sensation, though it was still faint. Was she trying to drag Regina onto her side? Or was this just another ploy to do just that so Regina would let her guard down?

"I am not bigoted like our dear Mother, though, I was willing to do or be just about anything to please her, even if that meant narrowing my mind. You are not sick, Regina, no matter what Cora has embedded into your mind. There are no rules when it comes to love and that is the most beautiful thing. You are lucky when you find that one person; your soul mate.

"And I... I just cannot let Mother ruin that for you. So, I had come to warn you, though it may not be much. But at least you will be prepared and you can fight her back. Take control of your life and... protect Emma." Her gaze fell on the young blonde, looking indifferent as she forced a smile on her face. "I wish you two long, happy lives where your love will flourish as will your family. Please, Regina, trust me on what I am telling you. Protect Emma. Get her away. Get away from it all."

"And how do you propose that I do that?" Regina's voice was quiet as she thought about what her older sister had said, a wave of panic suddenly gripping her every nerve.

"Don't go to Boston. Or, at least, don't bring your precious Emma to Boston. Leave her here. Mother knows where you are going, and everything that you will be doing. You have discussed too much while you were in your bedroom and I am afraid that she had heard everything you have on your agenda-"

"I cannot just leave Emma here. She was the one that wanted to go to Boston in the first place. I will not take that away from her." The brunette woman slipped an arm around her girlfriend's waist, tugging her close against her. The blonde remained quiet, though her green eyes were a whirlwind of emotion.

"Then be warned, Regina." Zelena's voice turned solemn as she gazed upon the two women in front of her, soon tearing it away as she turned to open the front door. "So long as Cora is alive, she will stop at nothing until her daughter needs her."

And then she was gone, leaving Regina to stare at the door in front of her.

 _So long as Cora is alive, she will stop at nothing until her daughter needs her._

Those words reverberated through her head, shaking her to the very core.

Regina had only ever really _needed_ her mother once in her life, and that was when she was in absolute despair with no job, nor a roof over her head. And that thought had only driven the teacher into further insanity. She didn't have a job since she had quickly retracted her one lined up in Boston for fear of her mother.

But she still had a roof. She still had the place in which she stood, or so her mother had offered her before her departure. Though, Cora still owned the house and she could easily take it away from Regina within a matter of seconds.

The brunette teacher wasn't stupid enough to run to her mother if that were to happen.

"Gina, are you going to be alright?" Emma's soft, sweet voice queried from beside her.

"Uh... yes. I will be, sweetheart." Regina offered her a hesitant smile, tilting her head to press a soft kiss to the blonde's lips. "Now, come on. We've still got some planning to do for your graduation."

* * *

"Up up up!" A husky voice and hand on her arm had woken Emma, or at least roused her from the light slumber she was trying to partake in. Her emerald eyes popped open to meet with chestnut, and blinked… then blinked again once she had realized where exactly those brown eyes were.

Regina was on her knees at the side of the bed, an amused smile on her lips as a hand gently stroked the golden locks on her young lover's head. "Good, you're awake. Now you need to get up and get your little tush ready so we can go eat breakfast."

"What time is it?" Emma muttered, soon realizing that it had come out as a whine when the brunette gave her _that_ look.

With a soft _tsk_ , Regina pushed herself up from her position on the floor to gaze at the electronic clock on the opposite side of the bed. "It's a quarter to eight."

" _What?_ " The blonde squawked up at the brunette before rolling over, tossing the blankets over her head and snuggling back down against the mattress. "Breakfast doesn't start until, like, nine-thirty. That's a whole _hour_ _and a half_."

"While you are correct, Emma, you are also misguided. You understand, _I_ must be at the restaurant early to help with preparations. There are too many students that will _not_ be attending that have not paid, which means that we have to set up lines and tables by last names, and need I remind you how _tedious_ it is to be a teacher sometimes." The English teacher gazed down to the blonde who had eventually found her way onto her back to be met with a charming smile.

"I would suggest that you could sleep in until the time for the students to attend breakfast would come but I don't want to go alone." She puffed out her bottom lip, giving Emma a pouty, puppy-dog look. It hadn't lasted long before she burst into a short bout of laughter from the confused face the blonde gave her and shook her head. "No, but I suppose if you would prefer to stay here for another hour, I am fine with that. I wouldn't think you'd want to sit in the car because I'm uncertain if any early bird students are allowed into the restaurant before the designated breakfast time."

"Like any of these teenagers will be early." The blonde mumbled under her breath as she sat herself up, a lengthy yawn bellowing from her throat. "If there's an opportunity to sleep in, we take it."

"More than just teenagers will jump at that opportunity, dear." Regina chuckled softly as she made her way to the bathroom. "We are all human, after all, and most people in this day and age enjoy sleeping in." There was a pause as she stood in the doorway of the bathroom, making a face. "Except for those morning people. I am fully convinced that they are not human, or at least sane. How on Earth can someone be so _cheery_ that early in the day?"

Emma chuckled softly, her head shaking. "Beats me with a wooden stick."

"I'd like to beat you with a wooden stick." The brunette's voice had dropped incredibly low, causing the hairs on the blonde's body to stand on end, her eyes slightly widening.

"Yeah, but there isn't any time. I apologize." She smirked soon after, donning a teasing look as she pushed the covers off her. Emma stood from the bed, Regina watching with a soft grin of her own.

"Oh, you are quite maddening, aren't you?"

"Indeed, I can be." The blonde gave her a look, one that resembled that of a satisfied cat. "Now, why don't you get ready and I'll-"

"Take a shower with me." Regina interrupted, pulling the groggy teenager up from the bed before she could protest.

Emma grumbled softly, mostly obscenities from being pulled out of bed as she followed her girlfriend to the en suite bathroom. Her eyes were heavy, her body exhausted from the lack of sleep the night prior which was her reluctance this morning as she trailed behind Regina, her slender wrist in the brunette's tight grasp.

"Oh, come on, my dear." The teacher mewled, tugging at her young lover's tank top as they had found themselves in the lavatory. Emma couldn't help but to smile, her body responding already to Regina's gentle touches. Her mind was becoming more alert, her eyes widening. She couldn't stay grouchy for long around that woman, especially when she wore _that_ smile – rich and seductive.

"What will you bribe me with this morning?" Emma cheekily responded to the older woman's earlier statement. There was a moment's hesitation before Regina had spoken, her olive fingers plucking at the blonde's straps.

"We haven't much time, my love." Those fingers soon found soft, ivory skin as they delicately danced over Emma's cheek.

"But perhaps I may have something to offer in the form of a metaphorical rain check… That is, if you do not mind?"

"And when might this later be, if not now? Can't we just kill two birds with one stone in the shower?" Emma gave her a sultry look, her lower lip catching between her teeth.

"I apologize." Regina frowned for but a moment, her palm flattening against the younger woman's face. Emma turned into it, her features softening. "How about a down payment? If I allow you to… wash me, will you hold out until breakfast is over?"

"Lemme think about that." Emma smirked, turning her head to press a gentle kiss to Regina's hand.

"Are you honestly going to start this game when we have very little time to play it?" The teacher clucked with an arched brow.

Emma chuckled, moving away from Regina as she peeled her sleepwear off. "I accept your proposition."

Molten chocolate eyes ate up the exposed, pale flesh in front of her. A faint smirk quirked her lips as those very orbs met with Emma's, one foot moving in front of the other. The distance soon closed between them, the inches waning as Emma matched each step forward with one back before hitting the wall behind her.

Hard, cool tile shocked the blonde, her entire backside felt frozen against the bathroom wall. Her front side was soon covered by warm, satin-like skin as Regina's petite frame pressed tightly against the younger woman. Tawny fingers, slender and nimble, skated up pale sides while a soft giggle slipped from Emma's lips at the contact, her body squirming the more those fingers explored.

"You're wiggling all over the place, dear." Regina chuckled, her breath was hot and moist as it caressed Emma's neck with each wisp.

"That's because you're tickling me." The blonde wrinkled her nose playfully, knowing that her words were obvious, as told by the expression that the older woman had donned.

"Is that so?" She quirked a brow, those fingers not ceasing their movements as she continued to trace the contour of her lover's body.

Emma made a soft sound and she nodded, her own hands finding themselves on the brunette's behind to pull her closer. Regina smirked slowly, mouth dropping to the younger woman's pale neck, pressing the softest of kisses to the warming surface. They hummed in unison, breathing heavy in the small room as the two of them made a tango backwards toward the shower – Regina in lead.

"Come, dear. We mustn't waste time." The brunette murmured with a breath, one foot rising to enter the tub as she continued to tug at her younger lover, urging her to join.

Emma didn't hesitate to respond to the demand, readily moving under the warm spray of water that Regina had started as soon as the older woman was fully in. The blonde took her position behind the brunette, watching as the tawny-skinned woman stepped underneath the warming water to wet her hair.

It was then that Emma couldn't take her eyes off that raven-haired beauty, those forest eyes raking over the beads of water rolling down flawless skin. Every inch of the teacher was pure woman. From those perfect toes painted crimson to the big, sparkling brown eyes watching her, warm with emotion.

"Are you watching me?" Regina's voice rumbled off the tile, one of those brows quirking. "Someone sure is a voyeur."

Emma smirked, not at all ashamed of being caught staring. "I totally am when I'm voyeuring your sexy body."

A soft giggle bubbled in the brunette's throat at the younger woman's remark, her head shaking as she grabbed Emma's arm to bring her under the spray in which the blonde was anything but ready for. She squeaked softly when the water suddenly covered her face, causing her to sputter out the water that managed to enter her mouth.

"You're too dramatic for your own good." Regina tittered, maneuvering around the blonde as she made her way behind Emma to grab the shampoo.

"You totally shoved me under that water!" The amused spark in her eyes had Regina chuckling even more. However, she found the blonde's reaction so amusing, she would never know. Perhaps it was the look Emma was giving her with those green eyes staring incredulously at her or the way her already thin lips seemed to disappear into a tight line.

"You say 'totally' way too much, dear." The teacher's words were short bubbles of laughter until they had finally subsided, leaving her to stare quietly at her partner, lips parted to take in the oxygen her lungs had lacked.

"I do not! 'Totally' is totally not my word." There was a pause before Emma blinked and looked as if she had wanted to slap herself. "... I did _not_ mean to do that. You didn't hear it."

"Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil." Regina held up the apple scented shampoo, her visage stoic as if she weren't at all nude, wet, and in the shower, holding that bottle of shampoo like it were a mighty talisman.

And it was that very fact that had the blonde teenager suppressing the giggles threatening to spill out of her mouth. She forcibly swallowed them down, immediately turning around as she did so to hide the upcoming expression on her face. But her action had allowed Regina to snatch up the damp golden locks in one hand and lather them with the fruity soap held in her other.

Emma stood there quietly, allowing her lover to wash her hair with a relatively large smile on her face. The way Regina's slender fingers moved through the wet slab of her hair relaxed her.

Emma's eyes fluttered shut as she allowed the sensation to take her, body swaying slightly as it automatically leaned into Regina's own when the older woman tried to reach the top of her head. A soft hitch of air sounded behind her from the newest contact which had only sent a sliver of heat coursing down the teenager's spine.

"You're… ah, all rinsed out, my dear." Regina's words were strangled, hoarse, as if she hadn't talked in days.

"Yeah. Thanks." Emma tried to nonchalantly shrug off the small moment as she stepped forward and turned around to face the brunette before her. Those once chestnut eyes turned almost black since the last time she had seen them. A lip found its way between her teeth, getting chewed when that shampoo was handed to her.

"You're welcome." The teacher murmured, stepping into the shower of water to re-wet her hair so Emma could repeat the same process she had just done on her young lover.

And so, Emma had, as quickly and carefully as possible, trying hard to keep from fueling the soft-burning flame already lit in her lower belly. She was overall successful, only brushing against the brunette once when the muscles in her stomach had grown tired.

"And you're all finished!" Emma finally breathed.

The two of them had quickly put in their own conditioner, allowing it to sit as they gathered up the small loofas to lather with soap. In which had started yet another difficult task.

Unfortunately, they were stuck with little time and a day of frustration until the older woman returned from her day at work. Emma tried to keep that in mind as said woman made circular motions on her back with the soapy loofa.

Which, of course, proved rather difficult because that damned loofa was moving towards her front side and brushing against a very sensitive part of her. The faintest of whimpers fell from Emma's lips at that moment and she knew just then that Regina had heard her because the brunette paused.

"Do you like that?" She whispered and Emma could just _hear_ the smirk in her pleased tone.

"I'm not allowed to disclose that information." The teenager choked, her words wavering on the tip of her tongue.

The sounds of Regina's husky laughter fell off the tiled walls of the shower, drowning Emma in the rich sea of the honeyed tune. The blonde bit her lip, her head turning slightly to look at the woman behind her. She stood there, wearing nothing but a spicy smirk on her face as the cooling water drummed on her flawless skin, sliding in rivulets down every delicious curve of her body.

Emma could have died and gone to heaven just then.

"Does that mean that you don't like it, love?" Regina never lost that smirk, but instead gained a sultry complexion with a lower lip disappearing into her mouth. "Or you do and you just don't want to admit it because of what I said?"

"No comment." The blonde immediately murmured, eyes as wide as a deer caught in headlights. "Clean time. It's time to get clean. We can't get dirty. No time."

"As much as I would love to disagree with that statement, I must, unfortunately, concur." Regina leaned forward to press her plump lips softly against her young lover's in a chaste kiss. Her fingers closed around Emma's slender wrist as the blonde responded, her mind buzzing as it disappeared into a blissful void.

Then all too quickly it was over and Regina was stepping away, leaving a breathless Emma to watch the older woman pass over the loofa with a smile. "Now it's your turn."

"Gratefully!" The blonde beamed, not hesitating as she took the loofa from her lover. Quickly, she traded places with the teacher, allowing Regina under the showerhead as she grabbed the body soap.

"Unfortunately, we do not have much time," Regina whispered, watching as the teenager used a hand to lather the soap into a foamy substance. "I do hate to cut the time short."

"I'll do my best to hurry. You need cleaned." Emma gave her a cheeky grin as she already began to scrub at the olive skin of the brunette's arm. "I mean… not saying that you're filthy or stinky or anything, but… y'know. Hygiene stuff."

With a _tsk_ , the teacher lifted her arms up to allow the blonde more access. "Yes, of course. I understand." Regina gave her a wry smile, twirling around teasingly as Emma had continued, making circular motions across the older woman's back.

"Rub-a-dub-dub." Emma snickered under her breath, drawing closer to Regina's backside. She let her chin on the older woman's shoulder as her hands wrapped around said woman's waist, loofa still squeezed tight in her hand.

"… Emma, no." But the words were a chuckle as they left Regina's lips, her body rumbling against Emma's front with a pleasant tingle. "We need to hurry."

"I know!" The blonde jutted out her lower lip, but made haste as she quickly scrubbed the rest of her girlfriend's body, trying her best to ignore the hitched breaths that it earned.

"I… I think that you're clean enough, right?"

"Right," Regina couldn't seem get the word out of her mouth fast enough, but as soon as it had left her lips, Emma dropped the shower puff as if it were a hot coal.

Emma grabbed a towel from the rack to quickly sponge off the remaining beads of water, rapidly cooling her skin with goose bumps. She dared a glance toward her older lover, white terrycloth over her golden mane to allow her a sneaking look.

Regina was standing there in front of the mirror, towel already wrapped around her thin frame in a toga-style while she stood with her fingers in her hair to tame the wild and wet mane. She donned a slight pout on her full, pink lips when she discovered her fingers merely tangled in the dark, damp locks.

"I need a brush and stat." The older woman's deep voice rumbled next to the blonde who quickly covered her face up with the towel.

If she were going to be caught staring, she was going to do it with dignity.

Whatever grace came out of covering her face oh so conspicuously with that white terrycloth. Emma grinned behind the towel for a moment when a pause lilted Regina's statement because that gave her away. The blonde quickly fluffed the rest of the water from her hair, donning the same toga-style that Regina had with her own towel.

"… Could you please hand it to me?"

"Uh, yeah." Emma passed over the brunette's hairbrush before going in to grab her own, quickly combing out the tangles in her hair until it was a satisfactory sheet of wet locks.

Meanwhile, Regina was nursing her hair with products and a hairdryer that let those clumpy chocolate strands transform into the usual fluffy locks.

And then those perfect, pink lips moved as the familiar husky voice erupted from them. "Take a picture, dear, I will last forever."

Emma blinked slightly, realizing this was directed at her. Of course, considering the two of them were the only ones in the bathroom. The blonde hadn't realized she was watching the brunette's transformation from wet cat to fluffy kitty.

"You're amazing." She found the words pouring out of her mouth before the teenager could even form a proper sentence to give instead.

"Well, I do suppose I just have that… air about me, yeah?" The teacher gave her a wink and fluffed the ends of her hair up.

"Oh definitely, Gina." Emma giggled softly, leaning in to quickly brush her lips against the older woman's olive cheek, then quickly dropped her towel and hopped from the bathroom with another chuckle.

The blonde immediately heard a soft noise behind her and the light pad of footsteps as she made her way across the bedroom to locate the clothes that she had set out earlier. She quickly donned her undergarments and was about to reach for her jeans when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist from behind. Emma paused momentarily, a smile curving her lips into something sweet when the scent of her girlfriend's spicy perfume tore through her senses and consumed her. She leaned into the rich aroma, her head resting against the older woman's shoulder.

"What are you doing?" She inquired quietly, eyes sliding toward the digital clock on the bed to note the time. There wasn't long before they needed to leave. Which was unfortunate, she thought as her eyes fluttered shut and let the warmth of the other consume her.

"Holding you for a moment." Regina's reply was a breeze of air against the blonde's ear, earning another tug of her lips. She was warm against Emma's backside. Each breath that the brunette took shadowed the blonde's own, lulling her into a sweet trance; freezing time to just that _moment_.

"I love you, you know that?" Emma chuckled her words, though there was no humor behind it. She merely wrapped her arms around Regina's as her lover had replied with the equivalent.

The blonde could float; her head was so far above her. The skies were glorious with the sun as a splotch of yellow light, brightly lighting her path amongst the cotton-like clouds dotting the cerulean backdrop. The breeze caressed her skin like soft, warm fingers and carried the faint scent of faraway perfumes.

And the airway that they traveled by seemed to suddenly slap her violently against the face as a harsh storm permeated the surrounding area. The sound of crackling thunder roared in her ears as the sound of a familiar voice, reattaching the bonds she broke from reality.

"We need to be leaving soon, so I guess I should… get dressed." The teacher pulled from the blonde, slowly as her hands seemed to linger on the younger woman's abdomen.

Soft, tawny fingers gently caressed the warm, pale flesh leaving behind small bumps in their wake as they slid outwards, then up the sensitive sides with a teasing pattern. Emma was left shifting awkwardly in her spot, keeping herself from wiggling about as those digits explored further up her curves with shocking electricity with each movement, eventually turning onto her back to detach with reluctance as the connection was lost.

Heat slowly began to dissipate from her body. The once small, pleasant bumps turned into much more unpleasant tingles as the very real breeze bit into her skin, leaving her to shiver.

Emma opened her eyes after a few moments longer, soaking in the surrounding area. She stood in front of the bed where she had been previously with her forgotten clothes in front of her, neatly folded on the mattress. A sigh forced its way from the blonde's body as she picked up her shirt once again, jade orbs sliding towards the colored numbers beside the bed. It felt as if they had been standing there for longer than that clock had shown, though she supposed that she shouldn't exactly complain. They didn't want to run late, after all.

It wasn't long before Emma had finished completing her attire, with shoes and all. Regina, on the other hand, was at the mirror with a hand up to her face as she perfected her maquillage. Though, what need was there for her to even put that hunk of face paint on when she was gorgeous without? Emma couldn't fathom it, but whatever Regina had desired the blonde wouldn't argue.

Silently, Emma made her way behind the older woman to observe each delicate stroke she made with the brush against her cheek and the amusing way she sucked her cheeks in to do so. The blonde gave a soft giggle at that, though tried her best to stifle it behind a hand too late for the brunette quirked a brow at her through the mirror.

"What is so amusing? You have seen me put on makeup before."

The answer clung to the air, drawing it thicker as silence remained. Emma merely shrugged, lips pursed together because she did this every time Regina asked that question after she giggled. She was sure the brunette knew by now but chose not to say so. After all, what was the pleasure in knowledge when feigning ignorance was less mediocre?

"Sometimes I worry for your sanity, Emma." Regina gave a short giggle before going back to her makeup. "You are quite lucky that I tolerate your tomfoolery."

"Are you _quite_ sure about that?" The blonde smirked, setting her chin on the brunette's shoulder. "I do not wish to impede on your life, Ms. Mills."

" _Ooh_ , so you're going to play _that_ card?" Chestnut irises connected with forest orbs, an airy upturn of crimson lips reflected in the mirror.

Emma quickly nodded, kissed the brunette's cheek, and stepped away. "Indeed I am. What are you going to do? Give me detention?"

"Oh, I might be able to think of a punishment suitable for you." The teacher quickly finished up with her current objective before putting the cosmetic items away. "But, of course, that would have to be later."

"You could always take breakfast away from me?" Emma grinned from across the room, her jacket already donned with the car keys in her hand.

"There is no way in hell that I would do that."

"And why not?"

"Give me those!" Regina was already on the blonde's side of the room, snatching those very keys from her younger lover's hand as she walked out the door. "And because I said no. Now get your little butt moving or there won't be any sort of _anything_ later… Promises or not."

"You can't do that!" The blonde's words sounded like a pout as she stumbled after Regina.

"Just watch me."

"No!"

"Keeps saying 'no' and so will I every time you ask."

" _Oh_ , you're so _cold_." Emma growled softly as she found herself in the Mercedes-Benz.

Regina was already in the driver's seat with the keys in the ignition, her gaze quickly turning to the blonde as she settled. Her eyes were full of mischief when they met with the blonde's, the sardonic smirk on her lips only seemed to grow wider as Emma reacted.

"I know I can be, dear, but you needn't make a remark of it."

"Of course I do. What else am I here for?" The blonde smiled, shifting to put her seatbelt on at the last moment as Regina pulled out of the driveway.

"I can think of quite a few reasons, but I will not bore you with such trivial detail." The brunette teacher grinned at the road ahead, remaining ignorant to the soft grunt of protest that her statement had earned.

"Excuses, excuses, Regina."

"I wouldn't speak, Emma."

That clammed the blonde up, her jaw snapping shut just like the sea creature itself. She pressed herself against the seat and sought out the scenery around them, realizing that their destination was far closer than she had anticipated.

"Would you prefer to wait out here, or would you like to come in?" Regina turned to Emma, breaking the blonde from her wandering thoughts once again.

"What do you think is best?" The blonde's inquiry was a yawn as she unbuckled herself and stretched. "I should probably just stay out here. It's nice. I'll take a little walk around until I should come in."

Regina's attention never left Emma as she spoke, her warm, mocha eyes searching the younger woman's face while she processed the words. "Alright, sweetheart. I'll message you when it gets close to opening."

"Perfect." Emma grinned, hand searching for the door hand to pop it open only to be stopped by a hand on her thigh. She ceased movement, her entire body tensing as she withdrew her gaze from the sidewalk next to her and to the sweet little brunette seated beside her.

"I'll see you in a bit." Her eyes had a momentary look of confliction in them as she hesitated with her movements, just staring at Emma for a long few seconds before finally pulling away with a clear of her throat.

"Yeah." Emma nodded, shot her a smile, and hopped out. She would take a brisk walk around the block, text Belle where the hell she was, try to search her friend down, and head back to eat all the food that she could stuff into her stomach.

With another yawn, the young blonde stepped further onto the sidewalk and began to head off, her eyes catching on the brunette as she passed. Her footsteps slowed. Regina walked with the elegance of a queen and wore the aura of regality. It was impressive for the woman was merely a teacher and nothing more. But, oh, she really _was_ so much more.

Emma could have melted at those few seconds as she watched the small woman cross into the restaurant, one black high heeled foot in front of the other, the muscles in her calves working as she moved only visible from the knee-length blue dress that hugged every succulent curve of her perfect physique.

Only if it were cooler, Emma might have been able to quickly walk off the heat sweating her out of the jacket that she wore. She finally tore her gaze away from the teacher's plump rear end when she disappeared into the restaurant.

"Walk. Walk. Walk." She muttered to herself, turning around to head off in the opposite direction, and pulled her phone from her pocket. She was already anxious to get home and get that rain check cashed in.

It was only a quarter to nine.

How long was breakfast going to be, now?

Too long.

Breakfast seemed as if it were too long… And too filling.

By the time Emma was parked in the passenger's seat of the Mercedes, her stomach felt as if it were going to _pop_. Groaning softly, the blonde tried to shift into a more comfortable position to relieve the pressure.

"How could so much good food be so _painful_?" The teenager lamented, hand brushing over her slightly extended stomach.

Regina had a look on her face that expressed the answer with her eyebrows in her hairline and her lips pursed into a thin line. "Well, you _did_ have several plates of food, dear."

" _No_. I didn't have _that_ much. It… just looked like it." Emma huffed softly, thinking back to the restaurant. She went up to gather several plates of food, that was true, but each plate only harbored one or two separate things. Things that she only thought of while she was eating her previous plate.

Her scattered thoughts made her look like a pig.

And her stomach made her feel like one, too.

"Only if you say so, Emma." The teacher let out a soft snort at the comment, the corner of her mouth quirked.

Then it hit Emma like a ton of bricks. She wasn't the only one stuffing her face at the restaurant. Oh, hell no. There were plenty of other people doing the same, and even more so, and that was including…

"I wouldn't talk, Ms. I- _Need_ -That-So-I'll-Pile-It-On-My-Plate-As-Much-As-I-Can-And-Pretend-It's-Dignified." The blonde quirked a brow at Regina, giving her a tight little grin. And she _stared_ at her until the brunette looked over with wide eyes and a guilt-ridden smile.

" _Emma_."

"It's not a lie, _dear_." Emma chuckled, stealing Regina's well-known endearment. "I watched you like a hawk."

Regina gave her a sideways glance, lips quirking into a salty smirk. "Simply because we dined at the same table, my dear, sweet teacher's pet."

"Only because I didn't know where else to sit." The blonde bantered, blood rising to the surface of her cheeks.

"You may tell yourself that…" A hum sounded from beside the pouting blonde, instantly turning the frown upside down as she tittered at the response. "What?"

"Us. We're just…" The giggles were free as they fell from Emma's lips, each a melodic tune that resounded in the small vehicle. "Bickering, you know?"

"Bickering? Do you honestly believe _this_ to be bickering?" Regina quirked a brow, looking half-amused, yet piqued. Though this had merely earned another shrug, the saucy grin on Emma's face leaving the question to dangle in the car's thick air.

"Sometimes I wonder about you, Miss Swan." The brunette teacher chuckled, turning onto their street.

"It's playful banter. Something to keep it… all spiced-up, you know?" Emma finally elaborated, emerald hues focused idly on the pavement that passed ahead.

There was a soft hum before the following response, almost as if it were holding back laughter. "Well, I would have figured keeping a relationship spiced-up would include other… properties than playful banter. Now, _that_ would be keeping things interesting."

"Then what do you conclude would be keeping things all spicy?"

"Oh, I do have a few ideas, my dear." The tone of Regina's voice seemed to have dropped dramatically, clinging onto a husky tone that mirrored her welling thoughts. "You see; I _do_ have a check to cash in."

"Indeed you do." Sudden excitement shot straight through the blonde, bringing back memories of their morning and her rain check promise. She grinned widely, not at all modest enough to hide it. "And how might you plan on doing that?"

"I believe it starts out a little like this…" The brunette woman leaned forward, lips pursed as she pressed a kiss against the blonde's nose. "And, perhaps a little of this…" Her voice was an absent hum as she brought those red lips to the pale skin of Emma's cheek. "Mm… and maybe a little here…" The next tender kiss was placed just a mere lip-width down.

Emma's breath hitched with each feather-light peck that was brushed against her skin, tickling like a butterfly's wings. The curve of her lips turned upwards when those tantalizing lips explored further, each hot and breathy word that the brunette muttered along with them stirred up a fire that threatened to _blaze_.

She nearly groaned when those lips finally made it closer to her own, pressing firmly against the corner of her smile. Her lips _ached_ to be covered by the older woman's by now, her entire mind focused on the newest desire.

"And one final kiss to set the sail," the brunette rumbled, the words nearly lost in their mingled breaths as she closed the distance with the long-awaited kiss, her wish granted as red meshed with light pink. A soft, sweet kiss it was, only lasting a mere second before she came down again, this time a little rougher.

And the rougher, the better. Emma groaned at the newest sensation, her body responding eagerly as she moved across the bench seat, arm wrapping around the older woman's waist to pull her closer. Regina responded in time, her fingers snaking up the blonde's back and through those delicate curls as she slowly moved into the kiss.

"Car?" Emma breathed between the next kiss and the last, her pupils dilated.

"Car?" Regina echoed, not at all ready for their intimate moment to be complete. She drew her lips back in, this time dropping them to the blonde's neck. Soft, reddened lips traced the column of her younger lover's neck, tasting each delicious inch of the sweet, tender flesh.

"Y-yes." Emma bit her lip, the sensation buzzing from her neck and down her spine, managing to pool itself somewhere forbidden. A soft gasp left her lips when the brunette had found one of her sweet spots and took advantage, tonguing and nibbling the soft spot to earn more of those precious notes. "Will we… spice it up in here?"

The English teacher hadn't seemed bothered to answer right away as she had continued to provide her attention to the sensitive spot that was harbored in the crook of her neck. Her hands explored otherwise, one still tangled greedily up in the tousled sea of honeyed locks while the other remained hesitant, resting on Emma's hip with twitching fingers.

" _Mm_ , no," she finally murmured against the dark pink patch of skin, giving it a tender lick before pulling away with a smirk. "How terribly uncouth to fuck in the car."

"People do it." Emma shrugged, her head pounding as she felt blood rush quickly to it, filling in her cheeks a rosy tint.

"Yes, Emma, but we are not regular people."

"I never said regular people do it."

"I simply don't feel comfortable with it." The brunette unfurled her hand from Emma's hair as she detached herself, sitting back properly in her seat. "Not outside. It's…"

"It's not private?" Emma concluded her teacher's unfinished sentence, head tilting slightly as she gazed at the flushed brunette before her.

"Exactly. You never know what kind of… pervert might be lurking around." Thus, she had coughed and coyly fixed the dress that Emma had ruffled up, then reached for the door. "Mm, why don't we get inside before we waste any more time?"

"I am definitely behind you." The blonde battled the door to open and stumbled out, finding Regina to be halfway to the door by the time she had ever managed to close the door. "How the hell?"

"When you have very little time, it makes you do… wondrous things." Regina smirked behind at Emma who still attempted to catch up, succeeding in doing so when the brunette was stumped with the door key.

"How about the door?" The blonde mumbled, half to herself as she watched the front door get pushed into the foyer.

But the teacher had heard those muttered words and voiced her knowledge of them upon turning around to confront the very blonde teenager that they came from. "What did you say, dear?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Emma was quick to deny the words that she had spoken, rushing herself inside to shut the door.

But now that Regina stared at Emma with those darkened eyes, real contemplation bubbling within them as if she were seriously considering that option. And for that moment, Emma had hope.

Hope?

Hope that they would defile that poor front door?

"You said something about the door again, didn't you?" She queried, though she already knew what the blonde had said. It was later confirmed when Emma nodded, a light smirk on her lips.

"You'll probably-"

"Then let's do it, Emma."

"I knew it. You-" But then she blinked, because, did she _really_ just say that? Was she truly being serious? "Wait, what?"

"Let's do it." Regina smirked, backing the blonde up against the white painted door. Each move was like an enchanting aphrodisiac, burrowing the blonde in deeper and deeper until she was drunk of lust. "I don't have much time, dear. Why not? Let's… spice things up."

" _Mmm_ , remember, _you_ said it." Emma purred, sliding her arms around the older woman's neck.

And like that, their lips were on each other's like clockwork. Regina's hands were gathering her young lover's face into them, one's fingers sliding heatedly through her hair as the other gently slid across the smooth surface of Emma's warm cheek. The blonde's body was buzzing, overwhelmed, and tingling with excitement. She didn't know what the hell to do or what to grab in that moment, so she did the first thing she thought about doing. Her hands fell to the brunette's behind, squeezing her lower half tighter against her front which had earned an unexpected moan.

"Gina…" Emma pulled from the kiss, her hot breath puffing against red, swollen lips. "I have an idea."

"Don't speak, dear. Just do." The brunette groaned, readying herself for another kiss but was immediately denied when Emma had taken control and twirled them around, slamming her against the door instead. This had earned a breathless gasp, but was not further questioned and instead was greeted by another frantic kiss.

That was all that was needed to trigger the next step in Emma's destined plan. She returned the intimate gesture, fervently seeking out her lover's lips as pale digits slid over heated tawny flesh. A smirk found its way on her face at the reaction it had earned; goose flesh pebbled underneath her fingertips the further she had explored. Her lips remained attached to Regina's, their tongues dueling for a dominance that never seemed to be found. Fingers tugged futilely at clothes that wouldn't budge while their bodies never got the relief they needed through the cloth covering them.

Emma's fingers had fallen away from the brunette's shoulders to slide steadily under the hem of the indigo dress that the latter wore. Regina shivered slightly at the contact, those cool, slender fingers creeping skillfully up her warm thighs in search of a certain treasure. But that treasure was far from the brunette's desires as Emma curled her digits around the waistband of the panties that were hidden.

"What…" Regina breathed the word, but was immediately shushed by the younger woman as she proceeded to complete the task at hand. And as she had, Emma's lips left the brunette's, only to slide down her tender neck and over the exposed expanse of her breastbone. A pleading cry left her lips, her own fingers curling into the blonde mane as it lowered; moving over her breasts and down her abdomen until it reached the hands that finally tugged those panties down long, tanned legs.

Regina helplessly watched as the black scrap of fabric was tossed behind Emma, the latter hiking the skirt of her dress up to reveal what she had desired. The brunette's head fell back against the door, fingers tightening in the locks that she held with anticipation. Her hips bucked slightly, almost as if they were impatient on getting the attention that they had deserved.

A spicy grin grew across Emma's face at the reaction. She knew they were on limited time and that seemed rather unfortunate. There was always some sort of fantasy about taking Regina against the front door that continuously resonated in her mind, and she had rarely imagined it to turn out like this. Though, that wasn't saying this was imperfect. It was going rather well, but a speedy process it was.

Unfortunate, she thought, lifting one of the brunette's legs over her shoulder so she could position herself correctly. They wouldn't exactly have too many days left in this house which would leave it unlikely they would ever do something like this again. Emma shrugged mentally to herself. It was a special, intimate moment between them nonetheless. Why did something such as this seem to make her feel even closer to the brunette? She always wondered that very thing.

Of course, that was the thing about sex; mating, if she would get more technical. Well, rash. It was usually used as something to bond two people together. It was a special thing saved for a special someone, or that was what she had been told in school. Otherwise, it was all around her. In the movies, on television, it wasn't used as something special. It was used to help one another out. Like a "you scratch my back, I scratch yours" sort of thing.

 _Wait, what the hell am I even thinking about?_ Emma furrowed her brows.

Intimacy. That was about the only thing she could think about now as she dove forward, taking a taste of the forbidden fruit displayed before her.

" _Oh_ ," Regina moaned at the newest contact and bucked her hips automatically against the blonde, fingers tugging almost painfully at her hair.

Emma smirked, working her tongue over the sensitive folds, poking and prodding here and there, earning a few moans and yelps of pleasure. But she knew that wasn't enough. That was never enough. Intent to give her lover the release that she deserved, the blonde proceeded with her wicked exploration, that tongue delving into deeper areas that left Regina shuddering a breath above her.

"R-Right there! More, _please!_ "

The plea left echoing in the foyer was enough for Emma to continue. She disappeared between those taut thighs, one of her hands getting caught with Regina's own in a desperate need to find ground as the other sought out the delicious mounds on her lover's chest. Hips rocked desperately against her tongue, drumming a steady beat on the front door as she was bombarded by pleasurable pain; her hair ready to become a wig at any given moment.

"I feel like I'm going to vomit…" Regina moaned in between her desperate cries, her pace never seemed to slow as she continued to ride the younger woman's face with great bravado.

But it was Emma that had paused out of concern, looking up at her lover with a glistening face. "Do you want me to stop?"

"N-No… Don't stop. It feels too good." The brunette pleaded, forcing the blonde's head back down as she continued back up at the pace they had kept before.

"If yer shoor." Emma's voice was muffled before continuing back to where she left off, this time trying to press closer to enter her a little deeper.

"I-I am, _Emma_. Just too much food." There was a momentary pant as Regina got back into their previous rhythm, the leg wrapped around Emma gripped even tighter when the blonde had tried to move away to inquire her concerns once again. "J-Just continue, baby. I-I'm almost there." There was a squeeze to her hand as if it were meant to be reassuring.

With a grunt, the blonde merely continued off her lover's words. And just as promised by Regina, the older woman was growing more desperate with her movements as she rode high up the mountain of ecstasy until she had _exploded_ with pleasure. Her cry resonated through the foyer and no doubt the entire house as she climaxed, her rocking hips jerky against Emma's working tongue, trying to keep that beautiful high to continue.

"Oh, Emma…" The brunette choked as she tried so desperately to cling onto the blonde, even if it were just her hair and a hand. It was enough as she cruised the high cloud until it disappeared and she tumbled back down to solid ground. And as she had, her ass had also found the ground with Emma awkwardly pulling her head away with a mousy grin.

"I apologize, darling." Regina shot her a sheepish grin, hand extending toward the blonde's cheek. "I almost squished you."

"It's okay." What mind did Emma have when she brought the woman she loved to a glorious climax? She was right. You can do wondrous things with little time.

The teacher chuckled breathlessly, making grabby hands for the blonde to enter her arms in which the latter had gladly accepted and curled into them comfortably. "I will never say no to front door sex again."

"That sounds… hilarious, actually." The blonde couldn't help but to cough, letting her active dirty mind shine through. Regina wasn't particularly amused by her statement, but let it slide as she held the younger woman close in her lap, stroking her soft, golden strands.

"You know what I mean."

"And you kept denying." Emma hummed softly, snuggling closer to her because yes, she did quite enjoy the hair petting. It was always one of her most favorite things that Regina did. Anytime they cuddled, she did it. In the morning. Late at night. Cuddling on the couch, or bed. Or after an intimate moment. Sighing softly, she let her eyes close. And it was especially nice after nearly getting her hair ripped out.

"You're like a sweet little kitty. Kitty Emma." Regina cooed softly, rejoicing in the fact that the blonde really did resemble that of a cat as she was curled up in her lap now, her legs curled up on Regina's own as she lay against her.

"Am I your little kitty now?"

"Yes." The brunette firmly nodded and gave her nose a quick kiss. "All mine."

"Mm, you should give your kitty a good rubbing. She really needs it." Emma purred, forest eyes opening to peek up at the brunette who offered a sweet smile.

"Of course. Don't think I haven't forgotten about you." And that sweet little smile was countered by the growl that left it, defiling the smile into something salacious.

"I hope there will be enough time?" Her head tilted slightly, noticing the purse that had been dropping in the middle of the foyer. "What time do you have to return?"

"I should be fine…" Regina thought to herself, standing up with Emma in her arms. "Whatever time it is."

Emma puffed out a breath of air, arm still wrapped around her lover to steady herself. Once she had, she held up a finger and pulled out her cellphone to check what time it was. "It's a quarter past eleven."

That must have been the wrong answer. Regina's eyes went as wide as saucers, then went immediately to the numbers that were displayed on the blonde's phone.

" _Dammit_! I need to be back in fifteen minutes." The brunette grumbled a small profanity, gently urging Emma away from her so she could collect the panties that had managed their way into the middle of the foyer. "I… I can try to-"

"No, no!" Emma blinked when those sad, brown orbs were turned on her. "You need to go. I don't want to make you late. It's okay. Really."

"Emma, are you-"

"Yeah! I mean, I got to do what I wanted."

Those words had Regina's cheeks flaring. "I _will_ make this up to you later. I _promise_."

"Okay, Gina." The blonde giggled, shaking her head at the frenzied brunette. She quickly wrapped the older woman up in a hug, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. Sure, she wasn't exactly happy that she had to be left hanging, horny and all. But she didn't want to force her girlfriend, her _teacher_ , to be late for class. She'd find a way to ease herself over until the brunette returned.

Regina breathed into the kiss, relaxing slightly as she returned it before pulling away. "I will see you later, alright?"

"Alright." Emma nodded, taking a step away from the front door.

The brunette nodded slightly, though quickly diverted her path from the door to check herself out in the mirror just a few feet away. She fluffed her hair out, attempting to fix whatever mess they had managed to make (if any), and wiped away the leftover lipstick from around her mouth.

"You're already beautiful." Emma grinned, quickly picking up the older woman's purse before she passed by to the door. "But I guess that lipstick was a little sloppy."

"You ate most of it." Regina gave her a wry smirk, accepting the bag onto her shoulder while she pulled open the front door. "Thank you."

"Anytime…" Emma grinned widely, leaving the answer open. The brunette must have accepted for she offered a shake of the head, the wry smirk only growing.

"Don't have too much fun without me."

"Don't worry." The blonde shrugged, hanging onto the front door while Regina remained on the porch for a moment longer than needed. "I'll be asleep. Probably still when you get back."

"Oh, dear. You're a little bed bug sometimes." Regina chuckled, waving a hand at the blonde as she finally headed off to the Benz. Emma watched while the brunette got in and started the car, then even still as she drove off.

And then the blonde was home alone. She was free and home alone. She could do anything she wanted.

Which was sleep.

Sure, she was still a little hot and bothered, but that was something she could pass off for now. With a soft pout for not being able to get her share, the blonde hopped up the stairs and straight off towards the room that she shared with Regina.

Smiling idly, the blonde stripped out of her jeans and headed toward the bathroom for a quick clean-up of her sticky face. After successfully doing just that, she trudged from the en suite bath to the dresser where Regina's non-Mr. Pervert sit, taking the place of his former competition which had been successfully debugged and packed away.

After Zelena's untimely visit, the two of them hadn't hesitated to search Regina's old childhood toy for the bug that her sister had said she implanted. The brunette was first hesitant on this, not exactly wanting to rip apart a fond memory of her past in case there was nothing to be found. But she quickly got over it when they did, in fact, find the little micro-chip looking thing inside.

Utterly pissed, Regina broke the piece of technology to bits before tearfully searching the poor little rag for anymore implantations. When all was clear, she stitched it back up and stuffed it in a box just in case there was something that she had missed, and stored it in one of the extra rooms that she had never used.

"Like some weird-ass drama shit you see on TV." Emma mumbled to the new panda bear upon returning to the memory. Her life seemed a little too interesting now that all of this was going on.

Emma merely had a crush on her teacher. That was all. She pursued it. And then this happened.

"What happened?" The blonde stared in bewilderment at the plush animal. "How the hell would you know, anyways? What the hell am I doing? I'm talking to a stuffed bear."

She was losing it. She was alone and she was losing it.

"Going to bed. That will make me stop talking to myself. Yes." The blonde continued to mutter to herself, crawling into the empty bed. It felt cold without the warmth of her lover beside her. But that's what this little panda was for. It was to replace her. Though it really wouldn't work.

"You'll suffice, though. You smell like her." She hummed softly, pulling the covers over her body before curling up underneath them with the panda bear in arms. "Goodnight, little Gina bear. Big Gina human will be back soon. I hope."


	27. When Dreams Slap You In The Face

Emma wore a soft rose on her pale cheeks as she stood there, being observed like a bride in her wedding gown by her two excited parents who each wore the proudest of smiles that they could bear.

Meanwhile, the blonde felt as if she could sink under a rock and never return. She was never one for attention, but she knew her desire to remain hidden would only be ignored as she walked down that aisle.

And she would have to do it proudly as to not disappoint everyone there to see her graduate… And every other person that would be there, which would be a frightening amount of people.

But Emma tried to swallow the bile rising in her throat and think of something to pep talk herself into a more relaxed mood. She needed to ease the worries raging to break through the stone barrier she built earlier that day.

Even as David and Mary Margaret hauled Emma from the apartment and into her father's truck, she lost herself in her mind.

She was Emma Swan. She was a foster child, tossed from house to house, family to family. She had been broken into a thousand pieces by harsh words and harsher hands.

And the other children, bullies in spite of their own insecurities, tearing her down to the support beams, removing every last bolt and screw until she collapsed.

Their words still stung her heart, piercing an emotion deep, yet so easily concealed within the eighteen-year-old.

They told her that no one wanted her.

They told her that no one would ever love her.

They insulted her, called her cruel names that shouldn't have hurt but they did anyways.

They broke her in a way a glass vase would when it made contact with a hardwood floor.

She told herself that what they had said was true. She didn't believe it at first. She never believed it.

Until she made herself believe it.

Then she was taken in by the Nolans with loving smiles and welcoming arms.

And that was when all the tormenting demons that had once haunted her mind vanished because David and Mary Margaret _did_ want her.

They wanted her as their own child and treated her as such.

They loved her unconditionally, as any parent should and as any child should deserve.

They called her sweet pet names and made her feel as if she belonged instead of misplaced.

They helped pick up the broken pieces and put them back together.

And Regina… She came into Emma's life as a bonus that made her feel wanted, loved, beautiful, and whole.

And her wonderful, yet sometimes irksome, friends were more than anything that she could have ever hoped for.

With those three factors: The Nolans, Regina, and her friends, Emma was on a cloud. She would give more than anything to shove that in the faces of the ones that had put her down.

Emma Swan was no longer a broken girl; she was a whole woman.

And she was _graduating_ unlike those few foster parents that thought of her as nothing more than a bratty child that had said she would never make it out of school. They did nothing but discourage her throughout her short time with them, treating her just as the other children had.

But now she was no longer with those ones in her life, instead, she was surrounded by the loving ones. They were _proud_ of her for making it this far and had encouraged her of it. Hell, they had even encouraged her to shoot beyond her high school graduation goals and apply for college, more than certain enough that she would get accepted.

And she did, no less than the expectations that they anticipated.

 _That_ was why she smiled up on that stage in the traditional graduation garb with her hand readily approaching the diploma getting passed to her by the proud Mr. Hopper.

Emma was taking that little document in spite of the demons in her past that tried so terribly hard to rip holes into the fabric of reality that was laid out before her.

They attempted to rob her blind of her elation, but she beat them down because, along with taking this document for them, she was taking it for the current angels that had touched her existence. They lit her life up with an ethereal ray that banished those demons to the past and gave her the light that had guided her down the current path in which she led.

And damned she be if this path weren't glorious.

The blonde _beamed_ for that camera, the crazy upturn of her lips unable to be stopped. Even Mr. Gold had a foreign grin on his alligator face when she approached him, hand extended in congratulation. She took it blindly, shaking the tight grasp with a snap of the picture and moved down the line.

Emma didn't care that the world's eyes were upon her as she walked down the aisle. She was happy. She accomplished something. A _big_ something and there was not a thing that could take it away from her.

"Congratulations, dear." Emma heard a voice sound from beside her, forcing her to nearly stumble over her own feet as she attempted to catch where it had come from.

 _Regina_.

She caught a glimpse of the older woman's smile before being forced to continue down the designated path, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end and her entire body flooding with warmth.

If there ever was a way to calm her frazzled nerves, it would be the smile on that brunette woman's face. It always seemed to be the quickest remedy to any situation. Emma would be able to face the world given Regina would be next to her.

Bring on the apocalypse.

Give her a gun and her girlfriend and she was ready.

Emma saw that same smile when the ceremony was over, her cap lost amongst the hundreds strewn about on the ground.

Regina stood with the group of teachers, standing and clapping for the seniors that they had spent four years (or less in her case) teaching. Proud and tall they were with moisture in their eyes and grins as bright as the sun.

The blonde still grinned even though her head pounded from a mixture of the sudden arousal in the crowd's volume, turning into a deafening roar and the tight cap that she was forced to wear for five hours. The freshly graduated students cheered for their victory of conquering high school, almost loud enough to cancel out the announcement for them to exit the building as a class.

And they did, all in a clustered group as they fought through the exit. Emma pursed her lips at the rowdy teenagers in front of her, trying to squeeze through the exit with no luck.

"There you are!" Belle exclaimed with a smile that had once matched her blonde friend's, bright and excited. "I couldn't find you for the longest time."

Emma's grin returned as she slung an arm around the small brunette just in case they would get separated. "I know. Too many people in there. It doesn't help that they act like freaking animals!" She shot an accusing glare at a particularly loud group of boys cheering for the class of graduates, which had others around them join in.

"Tell me about it." Belle mumbled. Emma would have missed what she had said if she were not so close.

With a sigh, Emma finally made her way outside and into the dim light of the evening, where the crowd seemed to have doubled, nearly tripled. She groaned.

Why did they have to run into _this_?

Friends and family of all the students were here and eager to greet.

"Oh my goodness. What is this?" Belle's eyes widened, the light irises standing out perfectly in the evening glow. "There are so many people… I'll never find my dad or Ruby…"

"I'm sure we will." Emma attempted to reassure, though her hope was waning quickly the more they delved into the sea of bodies with not one face looking familiar. "Oh, we're totally screwed."

"At least we have each other?" The brunette muttered monotonously, sticking as close as she could to the blonde as to not get lost.

Emma was doing something similar, wide forest eyes on the groups of people _still_ pouring out of the building. This was a time in the young woman's life that she wished she _did_ have her cellphone and that it wasn't forbidden during the ceremony (though she knew that policy wasn't strictly enforced after seeing several other of the graduates with their phones out during rehearsal) and regretted not taking it with her just in case. Now there was no way in hell she would be able to message her parents to see where they were at.

And now she was lost forever.

"There's Ruby!" Belle squealed from beside her blonde friend and squeezed her arm so tight, Emma swore it would have been severed.

"Girl, keep it down. You're driving the dogs crazy."

But her quip remained unheard as Ruby had seemed to magically find her way to the two of them, a wolfish grin on her face.

"Now you're one of me!" The lanky brunette squealed just as her girlfriend had moments before, engulfing the two of them in her arms. "We are officially _adults_ and no one can tell us what the hell to do! Well… there _is_ your future boss and, I guess, professors from the college… and your parents or Granny on occasion… But you're an adult and no more kid stuff!"

"I think we get it, Rubes." Emma chuckled jovially, shaking her head when the waitress released her. "But we still can't legally drink until we're twenty-one, so I'm not sure if we're _completely_ adults."

Ruby narrowed her eyes at the blonde and shoved her shoulder. "Girl, there really _is_ a special place in hell for you. Right next to the devil himself."

"Now, RuRu, be nice to Ems." Belle chastised, her nose wrinkling angrily, though it looked more as if she had an itch on it instead. "She's a woman now."

"Oh, I bet she is." Ruby smirked, forcing emerald eyes to widen incredulously.

And then the blonde snorted as what Belle had said came to her. "You bet I am, _RuRu._ "

"Shut up!" That had the taller brunette quiet, her cheeks turning the same color as her name had stated, a deep, ruby red. She quickly turned to the smaller brunette, giving her a look that of an irritated lover. "I told you not to call me that."

"But you know you like it, Ruby." Belle gave her an innocent smile.

Emma merely giggled.

"Not when you say it in front of people."

"What's so bad about it?"

"Just… no."

"Come on, Ruby!"

" _Belle_ , please."

Emma watched between the two as they continued to bicker back and forth, the blonde long separated from her brunette friend. They were definitely meant for each other. Hopefully they would stay together for a while.

"You two are cute as hell." The freshly graduated blonde student smirked, forcing the two of them to cease their banter. "I don't know how anyone can think that you _aren't_ dating."

"Shut up." They muttered in unison, both turning crimson.

"You are. Just saying. Keep like that." Emma smiled, her heart shriveling in her chest as she stared at her two best friends, both shooting her mortified grins.

She was going to miss Ruby and Belle when she left to Boston. Now that they had graduated, they would no longer have all the free time to spend together after school or on the weekends. They wouldn't joke around in class anymore and get in trouble by the annoyed teachers, nor would they be able to stop by Granny's to grab lunch.

 _Granny's_.

They wouldn't be able to sit and annoy Ruby while she worked and stuffed their faces with the delicious food cooked by their older friend's grandmother as they gossiped about everything that happened that day.

Emma would miss that the most. She always loved spending time with her friends – something she never really had when she was growing up. But now that would be something left behind as she left to the bigger city. Of course, she could return to Storybrooke to visit her friends from time to time and the addition of the Bug Mary Margaret and David were going to give her would help with that.

Though she was sure Regina wouldn't mind taking her back up every so often. Emma would want her with no matter what.

A lot of changes were going to be made from now on and it seemed terribly frightening.

Emma was an adult now. She was eighteen, the age she longed for, and graduated from high school. Her life has started. She was moving away from what she knew – or what she had come to know so well.

The blonde frowned to herself as those thoughts ate her up. This night was supposed to be fun and special, happy and celebratory, not a pity party for herself because she was _grown up_.

"Are you alright, Emma?" Belle asked, breaking Emma from her mind as she popped her eyes up to meet with her friend.

"Yeah, just thinking." She shrugged nonchalantly.

"What about?" Ruby quickly asked, brow quirked.

"Leaving Storybrooke." Emma answered, which surprised all three of them.

Luckily, before either one of them could open their mouth to ask questions, Mary Margaret and David popped out of the thinning crowd with big smiles, a big bouquet of flowers, and a camera. "There they are!"

"Hey!" Emma grinned, happy that they finally found each other, even though the blonde hadn't done much searching after running into Ruby. She was immediately greeted (and smothered) by the two as they hugged her tightly, still murmuring congratulations before moving onto Belle.

"Were you excited?" Mary Margaret asked, hands clasped together. "Were you nervous? How was it? You're officially graduated from high school!"

"Yes, mom!" The blonde chuckled, hands in the air as if to calm down the pixie-haired woman. "My head hurts from that stupid cap and the loud noise, but overall, it was pretty exciting. It only happens once in your life; you know?"

"Oh! My baby's all grown up!" Mary Margaret squealed once again, engulfing her in a tight hug before pulling back to elbow her husband. David jumped slightly, his brows furrowing until he realized just why she had done that. He quickly handed Emma the bouquet of flowers, the smile clear in his eyes.

"We got you something!"

"Oh, flowers!" Emma cheered with forced joy as she grabbed them, smelling the natural sweet scent with a chuckle. "What I've always wanted after five hours of being in a room with loud, smelly people."

"Well, it _does_ freshen things up." Ruby muttered, earning a glare from the blonde.

Mary Margaret gave her daughter a look which shut the two of them right up. "Well, I suppose you wouldn't like the _real_ gift, now, would you?"

David was coughing and gesturing toward the paper the bouquet was wrapped in, trying to act inconspicuous.

"What's wrong with you?" She blinked at her father, watching his little gestures that she couldn't quite place. Mary Margaret, on the other hand, was rolling her eyes at David's "hints."

"Do you know what likes flowers?" The older woman inquired, dark eyes on those flowers as if they would tell her the answer.

"Birds? Nature? I don't know." The blonde blinked slightly. "I'm done with school. No more learning."

"I think your mother means to imply that there's a reason we gave you those flowers." David cleared his throat, giving his wife a quick glare, which only earned a glower in return.

"Graduating?"

Then it hit her. There was something in the flowers, or at least the paper of them.

Emma quirked a brow at the two of them before taking the not-so-subtle hints to look inside the wrapping, soon finding what appeared to be something metal. Then her heart skipped a beat. She excitedly pulled the little scrap out to find the metal in the shape of a key.

"Oh. My. _Gods_!" She squealed, throwing the bouquet into Belle's arms just in time as she threw her arms around her parents.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Emma's gratitude was muffled between the two of her parents, tears welling automatically in her eyes.

"Oh!" Mary Margaret kissed the top of her head. "You're so very welcome, Emma. You deserve it."

"Now, to get you your license." David chuckled and it was then that the blonde realized she didn't know how to operate the Bug that was given to her.

"Wait. You got a car and you don't know how to drive?" Ruby laughed, and Emma should have known that was coming.

"I know _how_ to, Ruby. I just don't have the thing." The blonde turned from her parents and _glared_ at her lanky friend, eyes narrowing into slits.

"But seriously, _why_?"

"Because we all can't be special like you, Ruby."

"Hey, now, Emma. No need to be rude!"

"Guys, will you stop arguing?" Belle frowned, crossing her arms. "I don't know how to drive, either."

"Yeah, you do." The waitress turned her attention to the shorter brunette, one of her perfectly trimmed brows quirked. "I've been teaching you, remember?"

"I know. I just mean that I don't have a license, either." She elaborated, nibbling on her lower lip.

"You girls are so funny." Mary Margaret suddenly stated, a joyous smile on her face as she watched the bickering trio.

"Yeah… _funny_." Emma pursed her lips, giving her taller friend a quick jab in the ribs to stop her bubbling chuckles. But it had only rubbed off on Belle, as well, and soon enough, the two of them ended up roaring with laughter.

"See? She likes us." Belle smiled.

"No. No she doesn't."

"Emma!" Mary Margaret reprimanded, wrinkling her nose. "Do not say that. I like them!"

"I know; I was just… joking." The blonde pouted softly, arms crossing over her chest.

"But you can't joke about how I feel about people, Emma."

"Mary Margaret, please." David sighed softly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"But, David!" She whined to her husband and it was then that Emma knew she had been playing along with the blonde because she never did _that_ without a reason such as _this_.

That had the blonde giggling and her friends laughing harder because, no, they weren't their parents, and yes, it was funnier when they were acting like _this_ and they were someone else's.

Emma didn't particularly care, at least when they were around Ruby and Belle. Mary Margaret and David always tended to act childish around them to embarrass the blonde, but it never worked anymore. Now, with _other_ people…

Oh, she could never imagine having Regina there with those two. Maybe she shouldn't mind; the older woman was easy-going, but there was still something about the thought that made her cringe.

Though, speaking of Regina, Emma looked past her mother for a second time as she swore she had caught a glance of the raven-haired woman. And she had. The older woman was just exiting the building with her purse around her shoulder and creased brows as she attempted to squeeze through the crowds that had decided to linger.

The blonde couldn't take her eyes off the brunette who made her way toward the sidewalk, though had quite a bit of trouble with getting through the gross of people. She smiled, swallowing the bubble of laughter welling in her throat when Regina donned an irritated look from a particular group of teenagers who kept blocking her way. It wasn't something they were doing on purpose, of course, but they were looking bothersome in their careless acts as they stumbled about with jokes and laughter.

"What are you staring at?" Mary Margaret finally asked, the question this time directed toward her daughter. The group had been buzzing with idle chatter until the older woman caught her attention.

When the blonde shrugged instead of answering, her mother looked behind her to notice the group of teenagers and the brunette teacher who had finally made it past them. "Oh! Look! It's your teacher, isn't it? Ms. Mills?"

"Yeah." Emma mumbled. Ruby and Belle both shot her a knowing look.

"Maybe we should go talk to her before she leaves? I know that she thought of you as one of her favorite students." The pixie-haired woman grinned softly before quickly grabbing her daughter's wrist to drag her in the direction of the infamous Ms. Mills. "And I know that she was your favorite teacher."

" _Mom_ ," the blonde groaned softly, trailing after her ever-persistent mother along with the rest of the group in which half (Ruby and Belle) were snickering and the other half (David and Mary Margaret) wore eager expressions to meet the brunette English teacher.

Well, David would be meeting the older woman for the first time since Mary Margaret had made a habit of going to conferences whenever they popped up. Emma always had opted to stay home for those special days, not exactly wishing to join in on the embarrassing parade no doubt to burst with her mother.

"Hey, Regina!" Mary Margaret called out to the dark-haired teacher to catch her attention before the older woman had attempted to cross the street. The teacher paused and turned at the sound of Emma's mother's voice, her brows rising in surprise.

"Oh, Mary Margaret. What a pleasure." She stood there awkwardly as the group approached her, a smile on her perfect, crimson lips. "Emma. Belle. Ruby." Regina nodded to each person as she acknowledged them, pausing on David for a moment with a slightly confused look before grinning. "You must be David."

"And you must be the infamous Ms. Mills." He held his hand out to her and she took it, Mary Margaret's eyes on the two like a hawk.

Emma could have laughed.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." He mumbled, pulling his hand away to wrap around Mary Margaret's waist as if to announce himself taken.

"Likewise, Mr. Nolan. I have heard so much about you from both your wife and daughter." Regina's molten eyes landed heatedly on Emma for a moment, the corners of her mouth tugging into a strange smile before she offered it to David and his wife. "What brings you two here? Or should I say five?"

"We just wanted to say hi before we left!" Mary Margaret cheerfully chittered. "But we've really ought to get going if the girls want to make it to the dance in time! Are you headed there?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact." Regina smiled politely with a nod. "I am one of the chaperones. Somehow I keep getting myself caught in that position this year." Her eyes landed on Emma for but a moment because it was the blonde's fault. She begged the teacher to volunteer as chaperone to the dance, just as the last one. This time, Regina hadn't minded much. It was the last dance, after all.

"Great!" Mary Margaret hummed, clapping her hands together. "I suppose we must be off then?"

They said their goodbyes and were off; Belle and Ruby returning to the Bed and Breakfast to get ready and Emma tagging along with Mary Margaret and David to prepare herself, as well. It hadn't taken long until Emma found herself in front of the mirror after struggling with her dress. The blonde had thought a not-so-flashy one would have worked well in the mundane white that Regina had suggested she pick.

It was a little tight in certain areas that she had noticed prior to when she had first tested it out. Unfortunately, then and now, the material was slightly see-though in those parts (which was more specifically around her chest area with the padded push-up brassiere that Regina had purchased for her a while back). Luckily, she had got it just for this dress, but the outline and solid white was still easily noticed.

"Damn that woman." Emma muttered because she was settled for a black dress almost similar until Regina had already decided on a color scheme for the two.

The blonde crinkled her nose as she looked over the outfit that flayed at the skirt with soft ruffles, ending at the top of her knees. It was pure white and nothing but as it asked to get dirty by the natural world.

There were reasons Emma didn't wear certain colors in abundance.

She looked like a marshmallow in this thing, and so did her feet with the matching ivory heels that she was barely able to balance in.

The only color that she did have was little purple accents such as the weird little flowers around her ankles, wrists, and pinned up in her hair.

She quirked a brow at herself in the mirror. The purple seemed to attract attention to itself from her ghostly appearance. The dress had a square neck which seemed to have defeated the purpose of the special bra, and a slightly ruffled sleeve which had only covered the very top of her arms.

Fortunately, those little puffs would be covered by the final accent of a purple ruffled scarf.

Regina and the ruffle.

Something was terribly wrong with that woman for wanting to practically look like a walking fluff ball with all those ridiculous layers of fabric.

But at least Emma wouldn't be the only one wearing ruffles to the dance because Regina had purchased something like Emma's own, except it was purple and seemed to be less playful around the skirt area. The ruffles, instead of flaying out, would hug the older woman's muscular thighs in a more elegant, conservative fashion.

The blonde smiled softly and moved from the mirror, a finger playing with her golden curls.

"Are you ready, Emma?" Mary Margaret's voice filtered through the loft.

"Yeah, just a moment!" She replied, quickly gathering up her cellphone before heading down the stairs.

As she descended, she heard a soft coo come from the woman who had called her down just moments before. Mary Margaret donned the brightest of smiles in which had easily reached her eyes. She squealed happily upon Emma's final arrival to the landing and immediately attacked the younger woman with the hug from hell.

"You look so beautiful!" The brunette released her daughter, allowing Emma for a chance to get oxygen back into her lungs.

"You said that the last time I got all dressed up." Emma crossed her arms self-consciously, quirking a brow at the woman before her. "Anyways, are we going to go?"

"Oh… yes. Of course, Emma." Mary Margaret offered a sad smile) and grabbed the blonde's arm to usher her out of the apartment along with her husband who trailed along, chuckling.

"You can get pictures before we leave if you want, Mary Margaret." Emma paused before her mother could open the door.

That seemed to have brought the older woman's smile into a full curve, her dark eyes lighting up once again. "Stand by your father! I want one of you two together. Then David can take one of you and me. And then we need one of just you." There was a pause as the schoolteacher hesitated, a slightly pained look on her face before she continued with her unfinished thought as if it were a piece of glass in her candy. "It's too bad that you hadn't brought a date so we could get one of you two."

Emma nodded awkwardly, her hands wringing in front of her because she knew how weird it was for her mother to even attempt to think of what kind of date her daughter would have brought. None was going to be better to lie about than admit that she was going to the dance with Regina, of course, that was in a manner of speaking.

Emma beamed for the pictures that she took for her parents and beamed even more as she sat in the car on the way to the school for her final dance of the year, all prior thoughts still fresh in her mind. Her stomach fluttered with butterflies, whirring up a mighty storm within that small organ. She didn't know why on earth that she was so damned nervous to get in there.

"Looks like we're here." David announced, turning toward the blonde with a smile, hand clasped on her shoulder. "Have a good time, honey, and call when you're ready to leave. We'll come pick you up."

Emma gave him an awkward look. "I'm gonna be staying with someone else tonight." She mumbled, hands placed on her lap in a ball. "I won't be needing a ride, if that's alright."

"Oh… Are you sure?" He had his brows squished together, but made no further move to guilt her into staying over.

Mary Margaret hadn't said a thing. She simply sat there with a smile, a hand on the blonde's arm.

"Have fun, sweetheart. Stay safe and… be safe." She leaned in to give the blonde a kiss on her cheek. "I love you."

"I will, I promise." Emma moved in to give her mother a side hug, her heart sinking slightly. "I love you, too."

"Call me if anything happens, okay?" David was the next to speak, his voice rumbling in the otherwise quiet truck.

"I will."

"Alright. Be safe. I love you." His stern stare was gone, replaced with that of a loving father as he, too, kissed her head.

"Love you, David." She chimed in response, moving to open the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright, Emma." Mary Margaret watched as the blonde hopped out of the truck, a saddened twinkle in her eyes. "Drop by as the first thing you do tomorrow." She quickly added, scooting to where Emma had been seated moments ago. She donned a cheesy grin as if she played, though her eyes had told just how serious she was.

The blonde gave her a sweet smile in response and nodded, hand on the passenger's door. "I will make it my first priority, okay?"

"Good. Now, go have fun while you can!"

"I will! See you tomorrow." She nodded toward them and shut the truck's door before making her way hastily to the entrance of the school. Her stomach was already in knots once again as soon as those doors had opened and the large, boisterous crowd was revealed.

Loud music blared through the gym's speakers while the graduated class sloppily danced to the upbeat tune. Others stood aside to merely watch while some remained disinterested, talking within their groups of friends, taking advantage of the free drinks and snacks.

Emma took a deep breath and searched the wild crowd, her eyes wide and overwhelmed as she tried to decipher out any familiar faces within the sea of them. Even the teachers seemed to be lost amongst the multitude of ex-students.

She groaned. She would have to enter the thick mob of people to locate her friends or Regina, which was already proving to be a difficult task. It was hot, sweaty, and loud, and frankly, she was already anticipant on leaving.

"Look at Mr. Booth!" A fair-haired girl pointed out the teacher in subject. That, of course, had the blonde stopping in her tracks to get a look at her former teacher dancing with a group of students. The man didn't have bad dancing skills if you asked her, but he was no Regina.

Emma chuckled softly as she watched him. Teachers were already getting in on the fun. Perhaps Regina was even in the spirit to dance and currently was amongst another crowd.

With an anxious smile for the unlikely scenario, the blonde continued forth to find said brunette teacher. Her eyes darted from face to face, dress to dress until they had finally landed on a ruffled purple one and eventually slid up to meet with the bright smile of her girlfriend.

"Emma!" She almost seemed to cheer, taking the few steps that had been left between them. "It's good to see that you finally made it."

"I'm fashionably late." Emma joked, tossing a curl behind her shoulder.

"Of course you are, dear." The older woman's mouth twitched with amusement. "Meanwhile, the party seemed to have escalated without you."

"Oh, what a shame that I had missed it." The blonde clucked her tongue, shrugging unenthusiastically. "I guess this means we should catch up with the in-crowd and dance?"

"Since when are you so eager to dance in front of other people?" The question stopped the blonde's unsubtle suggestion and threw it to the ground. Regina's brow was quirked in her usual manor, arms crossing in mock annoyance.

"Since I can do it with you?" She gave a cheesy grin.

" _Mhm_. Well, I am unsure if we should dance right away. It's currently a slower song and I hardly believe that would be appropriate for us." She pointed out, mocha hues focused on the slowly moving population on the dance floor.

It was then that Emma had noticed the change in pace and grew red.

"Yeah, of course." She mumbled, changing positions to stand next to her partner instead with a deflated look, allowing for her to survey the area.

Emma breathed in the air around her, drawing her attention from the people and to the rich, spicy perfume of the woman next to her. She grinned, turning to gaze at the beauty who tapped her foot to the current melody and wore a stunning white smile on her crimson lips.

"How was your day, Regina?" The blonde inquired, head cocking to the side. She hardly had time to speak with her today over the fuss of graduation and getting ready for the dance afterwards. The few minutes in the parking lot of the arena were hardly anything to go by.

"Rather mundane, dear. It's still strange to wake up in a cold bed." She turned her gaze to the younger woman, a mirthful look on her features.

"Yeah." Emma chuckled, realizing the statement to be true. The two of them had become so spoiled with each other's warm bodies in bed and took great advantage of it, that it had been difficult to adjust to sleeping alone in bed. It seemed much cooler and far lonelier.

"And trying to roll over to find you at the edge of the bed, only to fall off my own."

This earned a chuckle from the older woman, her head shaking. "I do hope you won't have to suffer that long."

"I probably will. I'm clumsy and fall off the bed a lot." She shrugged, earning yet again, another stifled chuckle.

"Remind me to put restraints on the bed to prevent that from happening."

" _Ooh_ , that sounds _kinky_." Emma couldn't help the comment that had heated her lover's cheeks.

"Emma, now mind your mouth. We _are_ in public." Though the embarrassment never faded from her visage as she remained pink.

"Sorry." The blonde giggled, tugging at the brunette teacher's arm soon after in her own way of the changing the subject.

During their conversation, a new song had played on the stereo, something far more upbeat and appropriate for the two to dance.

"Where on earth are you dragging me to?" Regina blinked slightly as the two had soon found themselves in the middle of the dance floor. "Oh, you sly fox, you."

Emma merely smirked at her comment, body already swaying with the beat as her eyes seemed to lock in on Regina and only her. It was going to be the only way that she would sanely be able to dance in front of the hundreds of eyes watching, or felt as if they were.

"Look! Now Ms. Mills is gonna dance!" That same voice that had called for Mr. Booth earlier had spoken once again, her hand waving toward the teacher whose eyes seemed to have grown to the size of saucers.

"Fuck yeah!" A masculine voice exclaimed from somewhere else within the group and soon enough another uproar of chatter stirred.

Meanwhile, Emma still had her eyes focused in on the stunned teacher who seemed glued to her spot. She stood as if she were a statue, eyes still wide.

"I refuse to do this." She mumbled to the blonde, her olive hands wringing against her ruffled skirt. "They're staring."

"Try not to think about it." Emma attempted to reassure the frazzled woman and stood to face her. Their eyes locked on each other's as she continued to speak, the brown melting into reassurance. "You don't even have to dance. Hell, I don't want to."

"No, but I did promise you and I cannot go back on it." Regina looked as if she were pep talking herself, standing there in her ruffled purple dress that only got abused by her anxious hands. "Why should I care what they think, anyways?"

"They aren't even watching." Emma flapped a hand in the air, eyes doing a quick once-over at the suddenly disinterested crowd. They must have given up on the miracle of their former English teacher dancing to the upbeat pop.

"Then what the hell?" Regina chuckled, muscles relaxing when Emma's words (and her own once-over) had soaked in.

That's when the brunette started moving to the newest song that had begun, one that sounded all too familiar.

Emma laughed as she started to join in, the joy of this dance and the familiar tune boosting her ego to do so.

It was that same song that she had played for the two of them during Winter Break for their makeshift dance. Each note had brought back the memories of that day and Regina's _amazing_ dancing skills. And by skills, Emma had been referring to the carnal moves she used.

Regina had let herself be free and began to sway her hips in a way that no doubt had the blonde eager for more. Emma would have damn near stopped her own dancing if she could, just to stare in awe. But they were in public and the brunette's dancing had inspired her own crazy moves, despite the urge to continue watching the saucy way she shimmied her body.

The two of them lost themselves in the beat, eyes on each other the entire song through. Hips swaying, feet moving, arms seemed to tangle with one another from time to time until the song slowed to its finale, leaving the two breaking for a breath.

"That was fun." Regina breathed, allowing for herself to take a few deep breaths. "Didn't know I had that in me."

"Neither did I…" Emma stared wide-eyed at Regina because at some point, she was quite sure that she was watching some sort of soft-core porn. "I mean…"

"Holy shit!" A voice shouted from the crowd, damn well finishing the rest of Emma's thoughts.

But the blonde didn't care for that damned mind-reader, instead she glared toward the masculine voice, unsure of where and who it came from. She would beat the hell out of that dude with his own happy parts if he tried anything.

"Way to shake it, Ms. Mills!"

"I wish I had her as my teacher."

"You should fuck me."

Emma continued to glare at the people, though it was Regina's laughing that prevented her from taking any further action. The brunette teacher must have found it amusing that her former students – and some that were not – commenting about her… interesting dance moves.

The younger woman grinned softly, watching as Regina's cheeks grew aflame once again, despite her obvious amusement.

"You're famous now, Ms. Mills." Emma couldn't help but to chuckle, moving closer to the teacher. "How do you feel?"

"Strange." The answer was simple, yet humorous as the blonde merely laughed again.

"You're hot, you know?" Her query was a mere whisper, quiet enough that she didn't know if Regina had even heard her over the other voices and blaring music.

But the blush that had suddenly flourished down the brunette's neck and brightened her cheeks was the indicator that she had.

A smirk weaseled its way onto Regina's lips soon after because, gods, did she have such control over Emma.

"I am quite certain that most of the students seem to think the same." She hummed, lips twitching at the green look her young lover had shot her.

Emma didn't think too kindly of others seeing Regina in the way that she had. It was a jealous rage of green that soaked her aura so quickly, forcing her equally as green eyes to glare once again at the others around. That was, until her friends seemed to have popped right from that crowd giving her equal looks.

"What the hell are you stinking about?" Ruby snarled playfully at her, pushing the blonde slightly.

"What do you mean?" Emma sniffed, shooing her friend's hand away to stop the playful taunt. "I'm not doing anything."

"Yes, you are. You're about to kill someone, or looks as if you will." That was Belle who spoke, giving her that special look that told she _knew_. After an intense moment of the stare down, Emma finally broke contact and turned away, shaking her head. The two of her friends chuckled, lost in their own amusement at her free-range guilt.

"Hello, girls." Regina greeted them belatedly, an amused smile on her own red lips. "Are you two having fun?"

The two quickly sobered upon realizing the brunette teacher had been standing there beside their blonde friend.

Though it was Ruby who had noticed the quickest, already supplying her ludicrous nature as she replied to Regina's question with a different subject. "You dance pretty well for a teacher."

"Thank you, dear." The brunette teacher's nose twitched at the statement.

"Are you even a teacher?" The lanky waitress queried suspiciously, tilting her head with a wolfish grin. "I mean, _dayum_ _gurl_ , you really got it going on with your moves there."

"Ruby!" That was Belle who had reprimanded the tallest brunette, giving her a look that reminded Emma of Regina when she said something wrong. "Can you be the least bit of appropriate? She was my _teacher_."

"So?" Ruby dared to venture, her wide smile reappearing. "She's still a human, too. We're adults."

The little brunette scoffed at her girlfriend before moving away from the group to idly stare at the snack table. Ruby, on the other hand, had snapped into a different mood but had chosen to remain behind, her face stoic. "Woops. I made a big no-no."

"Why is it that you know every way and a half to get on people's nerves?" Emma snorted, trying to sate the laughter burning in her chest.

"Reminds me of a certain blonde." The husky voice situated with the three had spoken, seeming to loosely let the words roam free without the consent of her logical mind.

Emma didn't think a thing of the statement before it hit her like a two-ton cement brick… Or Ruby's hand across the back of her arm.

"Annoying your 'favorite' teacher, now, are we?" The long-haired brunette mocked, using Mary Margaret's words from earlier that evening.

"Ruby, no." Emma glared at her friend because here she went again.

"Oh, come on, Emma. You know?" Ruby quirked a brow, stepping forward to give her _that_ look.

"I know that you should shut the hell up and go apologize to Belle." Emma muttered, teeth grinding impatiently against each other. Sometimes she wondered why she ever became friends with that girl. She was button-pushing and always seemed to detonate just the right one.

Ruby scoffed at her friend's comment, a hand on her hip. "You are so _rude_."

"Likewise, Rubes." Emma bit, pushing her friend toward the snack table where Belle still stood with a soda in hand. She was met with protests when the tall brunette planted her feet on the ground with a dirty look, but it was thanks to the blonde's strength that had the nineteen-year-old stomping off.

But not without comment as Ruby headed off, her arm in the air to flip Emma off. "God will get you for that!"

"There is no God where you're going, Ruby." The blonde caught the last laugh before finally turning back to her "date."

"Now I can see where your attitude comes from." The brunette quirked a brow at her young lover. "And your not-so-witty comebacks."

"Oh, shush!" Emma huffed, glaring toward the two of her friends that stood in the distance, arguing at one another. "I'm too slow to come up with something good."

Regina shook her head, an amused smile on her face as she lifted a hand to pick something out of Emma's blonde curls. The latter watched on when she pulled her fingers away with what had her interest. "You are anything but slow, my dear."

"You're just saying that." But the statement had her blushing, her cheeks heating up more than they already had been as she continued to stare at that brunette. Her brows had now furrowed when Regina had, once again, plucked something from her hair.

"What the hell are you doing?" She finally asked, hands drawn to her sides.

The brunette merely shook her head with another stunning smile, bright and white in the gym lights. "Would you like to prove to yourself just how… _fast_ I believe you to be?" Her tone had suddenly dropped into a husky whisper, plum lips twitching slightly. "Because I will show you how correct my statement will be."

The blonde's eyes had widened at the silk in her lover's voice, the words in which she had spoken could find Emma's release alone. Oh _gods_ , what was she doing to her with all of these people around them?

"Are you trying to lead me on, Ms. Mills?" Emma inquired, brows rising as they awaited an answer.

And the response was anything but what she had hoped for as that brunette licked her full lips with a swipe of her tongue. "Wouldn't you like to find out?"

"Yes," she whimpered.

"Then meet me outside." She smirked and leaned in, her voice dropping even more as she spoke into Emma's ear, her breath hot and moist against the latter's skin. "I parked a few blocks down so we could leave together."

"Y-You want to leave now?" Emma swallowed thickly, jade orbs widening.

The brunette straightened, shrugging. "We don't have to."

"No." The word could have left Emma's lips fast enough. "I mean… it's boring anyways. Being here."

"Alright, dear. I'll make haste to leave first. I'm quite sure that the other chaperones won't miss me." And with that, the brunette departed from her girlfriend's side to do as she had said. her hips swaying from side to side with each step, almost as if she had known that Emma was going to observe.

And she definitely was. Her eyes never left the older woman's posterior until the round rump disappeared within the sea of bodies. Emma sighed at the loss and turned from Regina's path to find out where Ruby and Belle had run off to. She might as well tell them that she had planned on leaving or else they would surely have another conniption like the last time that she had left early without informing them.

Her friends. She didn't know how she found them.

Must have been in a barn by the looks of it.

Emma wrinkled her nose slightly as she witnessed Ruby scarfing down a piece of cake with Belle at her side, giving the waitress a pissy look. She warily made her way over to them.

"I told you!" Ruby cheered, tossing the empty plate into the trash can behind them. "I can eat it in less than a minute."

"I question myself, sometimes, as to why I even tolerate you." The shorter brunette made a face. "And how you never gain a single pound. I've seen the way you eat."

"What the hell are you two doing?" Emma quirked a brow as she had finally met up with the two, soon propping herself against the table that they stood next to.

"I'm showing her how much I really like cake." Ruby smiled, earning an eye roll from her counterpart.

"More like how she can inhale it within five seconds."

" _Two_ seconds, thank you very much." The taller of the two gave a wolfish grin.

Belle scrunched her nose up, making a face at the other brunette before turning to look at the blonde with a smile. "What brings you to this insanity boat?"

"My own little messed up mind is a free roaming passenger." Emma shrugged, pushing herself from the table. "Also, I plan on leaving. Like, now." She hummed, fixing the ruffled layers of her scarf.

"Leave? Why?" That was Ruby, jumping forward to interrogate her friend. "Where the hell are you going?"

"Home. It's boring and I have a migraine." Emma monotonously stated, shrugging off the look her friends had given her. She knew that they had to have sensed her lie. They gave her the look that they always did when she flaked out early and made up a lie to get out. They never said anything, but always tended to grow suspicious.

"Don't try to stop me because I can't be." Emma raised her hands and turned around to prove just that point. She ignored the protests that her friends shot in her direction and made haste to the door before she caved and turned back around.

"You're a bitch, Em!" Ruby shouted over the heads behind Emma.

Emma was on her way to Regina's car now and there definitely was no going back. She grinned to herself the entire way, the cool night's breeze caressing her skin like a lover's touch. It was a perfect night, she thought to herself, head tilt back to look up at the star dotted sky.

She had absolutely no idea where the hell Regina had parked.

Huffing to herself, she dropped her head back down as she fished her cellphone from her bra to message the brunette. She was not at all tolerant enough to get lost and go the wrong direction. Yes, it _was_ a gorgeous night and thankfully not cold enough to freeze her nipples off, but she was also _uncomfortable_. Uncomfortable in the best way possible, of course, as she continued to think of what the brunette had said. Her excitement was rising and her patience wearing thin.

Exhaling softly, she pressed on in the direction in which she had started. Perhaps it was for the best that she would walk off some of the extra energy building up within her. She wouldn't want to be _too_ pumped up, or else things might not end that well.

Buzzing with anxiety, Emma quickened her footings until her phone had vibrated in her hand with a new message, that from Regina.

 _ **I see you. Keep walking and cross the street.**_

The blonde blinked slightly and stuffed her phone back in its hiding place before quickening her pace once again. It was dark out and hard to see what the vehicles in the distance had looked like. There were several parked along the street for the dance and, unfortunately, quite a few were dark colored.

She kept her eyes peeled for that black Mercedes across the street. If Regina could see her, that had meant she wasn't too far ahead. Why couldn't Emma see her?

"Over here! You're starting to look paranoid." Regina called from across the street, conveniently in front of where said blonde had stood.

Emma quickly hopped across the street to meet Regina who had been standing outside her car with a hearty grin. She looked cuddled up within herself, arms crossed over her chest and a white scarf that she seemed to have recently donned, wrapped around her neck.

"There you are, Emma. What took you so long?"

"Ruby, Belle. I told them I was leaving." Emma grinned, taking in the woman that stood in front of her, finally landing on the ruffled white scarf that matched her own. "Where was that?"

"Oh!" The teacher chuckled softly to herself, loosening the scarf around her neck to allow the material to hang loosely against her chest. "I had forgotten to put it on and left it in the car."

"Liar." The blonde fingered the white material. "You didn't want to wear it."

"That's untrue!" Regina's eyes fell to Emma's pale finger, a soft smile floating across her features. "What…"

"I don't know." She dropped her hand, giggling. "So, here I am."

"Are you raunchy like a hurricane, dear?" The brunette leaned forward slightly, though it was close enough for Emma to feel the older woman's warmth radiate onto her.

"It's 'rock you like a hurricane,' Gina." Emma wrinkled her nose with a large grin. "But I can be raunchy if you want me to." The blonde's words were a gentle growl, her body gravitating toward Regina's.

"And you can show me just how _not slow_ you can be." The older woman smirked, the distance between them growing smaller. She quickly licked her lips, mocha eyes focused on the blonde's own.

Emma couldn't help but to react the same, her own emerald hues dropping to the tongue that slid across dark, luscious lips. "I'd love to."

"Then do it." She whispered in response, the words hitting Emma's wetted lips like the breeze that roared around them.

Emma didn't hesitate to accept the invitation and surged forward to meet those lips in a soft, chaste kiss. Pulling away, she breathed, their air mingling together for but a moment before she had dived in again to get a better taste. And boy did she.

Regina's lips were sweet and soft, the sensation of them against Emma's own was pure bliss. She moaned when they responded to the kiss, her breath growing ragged. The pleasant sensation sent a shock down her spine, forcing all the hairs on her body to stand on end.

It was the brunette's soft moan that had her blonde lover's body to heat up instantly, the cool breeze no longer affecting her. She was _hot_ and her body was responding to Regina the more the kiss had deepened into a fervent desperation that had Emma pushing the older woman back against the car. Her pelvis ground into the brunette's in a need to relieve pressure that wouldn't get the attention that it needed, and had only grown far more unbearable the more Regina had pressed desperately back.

"Emma…" She panted against the blonde's lips as she pulled away from the kiss momentarily, her eyes heavy with desire.

" _Gina_." Emma cupped the older woman's cheek as she moved forward to catch her lower lip between her teeth, nibbling and tugging at it as her fingers slid through the golden blonde curls.

"We should probably go…" The brunette whispered breathlessly, those olive digits still tangled in Emma's hair while the other rested on her behind.

"Yeah… can't fuck against the car." Emma muttered unhappily, licking her lips. "Too bad, 'cause I would." She grinned, earning a salacious smirk from the brunette herself.

"No, no. We do need to go." Regina stated, though mostly to herself before she leaned forward to press a soft kiss to her lips. "Mm… damn. You taste so sweet."

"I know." The blonde beamed self-righteously, her thumb stroking the brunette's cheek. "I ate some cupcakes that my moth-"

"So, is that how you plan on losing your migraine?" A voice different from Regina's had interrupted Emma's thought, causing her to freeze as if she were a deer caught in headlights.

Because that voice belonged to _Ruby_.

"Shit!" She quickly stepped away from Regina who had already released the blonde's ass, though had troubles untangling her fingers from the blonde locks.

"My ring is stuck." The older woman panicked, tugging a bit more in desperation to get away, but that had only earned a pained protest from the blonde.

"So… you got caught making out with the teacher. Damn, she _was_ gay." The slender brunette waitress was already behind Emma with Belle at her side. The blonde was thanking whatever force that her back was to her friend because she could _see_ the smirk that she wore.

"Ruby, shut up." Emma hissed, trying to help Regina's ring get uncaught.

"Hah! It's free!" Emma pushed her lover's hand away, happier than hell to get that painful piece of metal out of her sensitive scalp. "How in the _hell_ did that happen?" She stared at Regina who had gazed at her with confused look.

"I usually take them off." The older woman seemed to whisper.

"No. No. You're explaining this." Ruby interrupted once again, this time forcing the blonde around to face her. Then she grinned, a laugh falling from her bright red lips. "Your cheeks are _so_ pink!"

"Wha- No!" The blonde quickly covered her cheeks and immediately felt the blood rising to the surface of her skin. "What the hell are you doing here, anyways?"

"You lied." That was Belle this time, her soft-spoken voice finally rising above. "And apparently to leave us and-"

"Screw the teacher." Ruby finished her girlfriend's sentence with her patented wolfish grin.

"Why the hell did you have to follow me?" Emma muttered, arms crossing over her chest.

"We wanted to see where you were going." The taller brunette elaborated, eyes falling to the teacher who was still pressed against the car. "And obviously not where we thought… or where you said."

"Now you know. Now you can leave us alone." Emma waved a hand in the air toward the older woman, who in return, had stared at her with a dubious look.

"Do you honestly believe that Ruby will _just leave us alone_ in a situation like this?" Regina finally spoke up, her voice slightly hoarse. She finally moved from her spot to stand next to the blonde and in front of Ruby.

"See, even Ms. Mills knows that the hell goes on in my mind. Now, Em." She turned toward her blonde friend with a sardonic look. "Explain me this: what the hell is going on? I mean, I knew you had a crush on her, but… What the hell?"

"Obviously, it's not a crush anymore. Okay? Done? Done." The blonde hastily brushed her friend off.

"Fine. I won't bother you with it." Ruby mumbled, the smile vanishing from her face. Belle, on the other hand, remained curious as she gazed between the two lovers in front of her with a thoughtful expression.

"What?" Emma couldn't help but to notice the smaller brunette's curious blue gaze upon them.

"This couldn't have possibly just happened tonight." She quietly stated, eyes falling upon her former English teacher. "Could it?"

Regina stared at her former student, then turned her attention to Emma before sighing softly as she admitted the truth. "No, it hasn't. But you cannot tell _anybody_. At least not tonight."

"I never would." Belle took the oath, smile softly to the older brunette before bringing her attention to her blonde friend. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because of how you reacted before. How the hell was I to know what you would do?" The blonde narrowed her eyes for a moment, sighing.

"Nothing. We would have supported you, Emma. That's what friends are for, aren't they?"

"Yeah, girl. You can lesbian with your teacher. We don't care." Ruby smirked, causing her friend's cheeks to burn aflame. "Especially since she's hot."

" _Ruby_." Emma hissed, stepping forward to slap her friend's arm but was prevented from doing so by Regina.

"Emma, honey, no. Act like an adult. I do not wish to date a _child_." The brunette quirked a brow at the blonde, giving her _that_ look. "Children do not get the adult things."

"But I like the adult things…" Emma muttered, giving her a playful pout. "I know, I know. I'm an adult. But Ruby brings out the kid in me because she pisses me off."

"So I gather." Regina shifted her gaze from Emma to the other woman in question, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.

"Oh, this is disturbing." Ruby voiced her thoughts, eyes wide while she had listened to the prior conversation. "Maybe we should just go, Belle. Leave these two… secret lovers to their crazy ass 'adult things.'"

"Yes. You should." Emma readily agreed, waving off in the direction of the school. "Pretend you saw nothing."

But her comment was met with laughter as Ruby shook her head, clasping a hand to her back. There was something almost condescending about it. "How can I even _attempt_ to forget this? Now if it's going to blab to people about it is your main concern, don't worry, we won't. We aren't _that_ horrible."

"Good." Emma narrowed her eyes at the older teenager, soon after shrugging her off to step away from the Benz. "Anyways, Ruby."

"Anyways, Emma." She smirked at the mock of her blonde friend's words, eyes floating, once again, between the two. "We're leaving you and… Ms. Mills-"

"Her name is Regina." Emma interrupted, humming towards her brunette lover.

" _Regina_. I know what her name is, smartass." Ruby still looked slightly perturbed, though, at the thought of the two associating. Emma wouldn't blame her. "I just want to know one last thing… How the fuck?"

"What happens in Boston, stays in Boston." The blonde smirked, eyes hovering toward the brunette next to her, whose dark eyes grew black at the memories.

"Wait. Wait. Hold the phone." Ruby looked baffled at the statement, hands in front of her. "You two have been together since… _then_?" When Emma merely nodded, she gawked and remained quiet, as if the words had failed to leave her mouth.

"You lied. You didn't see Graham at all." Belle gasped, bright hues turning molten when she had realized just that.

"Actually, I did. We saw him just before we left."

It was Ruby this time that had spoken, regaining her lost voice. "So, he _knows_?"

"Yes, he does."

"Damn him!" She growled, having a small fit. "I hate it when people keep secrets from me."

"You don't need to know everything. It didn't hurt you before and now you know. Just be happy." Emma sighed softly, voicing her thoughts. But it was the cool breeze that had her falter, the night's air nipping at the exposed surfaces of her skin, forcing a shiver down her spine.

Thanks to that shiver, Regina had noticed her young partner's state and inched closer to her with an extended arm that had immediately found its way around her waist. "Are you chilly, my love?"

"I'm alright." The blonde mumbled her lie, despite the chill she still had. But she was given away as she remained still, not twitching a single muscle to move from the warmth of Regina's body.

She was alright.

Ruby made herself known from the mild interruption, coughing unsubtly at the two of them because she absolutely _hated_ it when no one paid any attention to her. "Fine." She gritted through her teeth as if it were painful to say the word.

Emma brought her gaze up to the tall brunette, quirking a brow at the older girl. She merely stood there, eyes upon the two, letting her initial mood vanish and transform into a bright, cheerful smile. Even Belle had gazed strangely to the brunette as had the other two parties. That girl was bipolar if Emma hadn't seen it.

"I _am_ happy. For you. I mean… You had this major crush on her and somehow you made it work. Like… What the hell?" Ruby blubbered out, stepping toward them in her tall, crimson heels. She dove forward without shame, engulfing the two of them in her arms. "Go be gay together, okay? We'll stay back and I'll text you later."

"Don't count on a response."

"…Or tomorrow."

Emma blinked and laughed, squeezing her with an arm as Regina had quite literally stood there as if she were a statue with features frozen in horror.

"Yeah. You do that. I think it's time to-"

"Get our asses home." Regina finished the blonde's sentence and turned to open the driver's door of her car, face entirely flushed from Ruby's comments.

"Well!" The brunette waitress laughed, moving once again to hug her friend with Belle joining in this time. Each wore a satisfied, yet equally as jovial, smile on their face. "Have fun, Em. Kay?"

"You too." The blonde laughed, saying her goodbyes to the two of her best friends.

She soon after climbed into the Benz next to Regina, exhaling. "I wasn't expecting that."

"I suppose that is the consequence of being… _naughty_." She smirked, pulling from the curb.

"You wanted me to prove that I wasn't slow!" Emma's cheeks were burning at the memory.

The brunette hummed softly at the response, amusement lighting upon her features. "You did, and rather well, I might add." The palms of her hands slid over the smooth leather of the steering wheel as she turned the corner with the same saucy smirk that she had previous donned.

"Maybe you could exude a little of that quickness into your driving?" The blonde's words were a playful song in the air, not holding long before the response was given by the roar of the engine. They were left taking off down the empty street at a speed that wasn't legal in this small town.

"Whoa, don't get yourself in trouble." Emma's eyes widened, but she couldn't help the joyous bubble of excitement tingling her being from head to toe.

She was met with a grin as the older woman turned down each street, tracing the path back to her house with the eagerness of a horny teenager. Really, this night wasn't just for the freshly graduated students, were they? "With my cat-like reflexes, we'll be alright." She jested, finally pulling onto their street.

Emma couldn't have been more relieved – in more ways than just one. Her heart pounded in her ears, a deafening sound that resonated when the engine was cut and they were pulled to a safe stop. Her darkened eyes drew toward the brunette who merely offered her an expectant smirk.

"We're here." She nonchalantly stated, unlocking the doors to the Benz before she exited the vehicle with a gentle hum. "I mean, if you are comfortable with joining me in my humble abode?"

"Oh, it would only be my pleasure." Emma was battling the various ruffles of her dress by the time she joined Regina on the path toward the front door. The older woman chuckled at the younger one, helping her out by gently smoothing out the layered white material.

"You mustn't fret long over that dress. It will soon no longer be a problem." Regina stopped her grooming mannerisms to catch the blonde's gaze, her hand slowly pulling from the latter's being. A grin hooked onto her lips, drawing them up into a beautiful beam when Emma stopped suddenly in her fretful tracks. The blonde blinked momentarily, a smile of her own soon carving her face.

"You are beautiful; you know that?" Regina breathed, the hand that had once groomed her young lover met a blushing cheek, cupping it as if it were a delicate white lily.

"Thanks…" She sheepishly replied. As if she knew how to reply to that without striking up a little tiff. "Y-You look… astonishing toni-"

"Shh…" The brunette stopped the younger woman's compliment by pressing a finger to her lips. "Don't speak. Accept the compliment."

"Okay."

The generous nod given by Emma had her older counterpart chuckling softly, but that was short-lived as she silenced herself with a gentle kiss to the blonde's bewildered mouth. A gasp left her parted lips at the gesture, leaving her to lean in for another taste of those soft, sweet lips once again.

But she was met by air when the brunette pulled away, a key in hand. "We need to get inside, dear." Her hand fell away from Emma's cheek to clasp into the hand that idly remained by her side.

"Yeah…" The blonde nodded quickly, eager once again to enter Regina's domain. The two of them were soon inside the cool foyer, left in the dark silence with nothing but their anxious breaths to fill it.

"Come." Regina tugged at Emma's hand, urging the younger woman to follow her through the darkness. She trusted the brunette in front of her as she was guided up the stairs, taking each slowly until they reached the landing and continued onward. Then they turned into a room that smelled strongly of Regina's spicy perfume.

Then Emma's senses were suddenly flooded by a bright light as the light switch was flicked on by the other party. Blinking to get used to the new light, the blonde could make out the room's familiar furnishings and the woman who had owned it. Regina stood beside her with an absent smile as if she were doing the same, staring at nothing in particular.

The only difference that Emma could point out was the new dressing on the bed, perfected to match the purple and white ruffles that she and Regina wore.

The bedspread was a violet waterfall of satin ruffles, matching the equally as elegant white satin pillows and rich sheets nearly hidden underneath them all. It almost felt a shame to ruin such a masterpiece.

"Do you like it?" Regina curiously inquired, chestnut orbs rising to meet with Emma's jade ones.

"I love it! It's like one of those magazine beds." The blonde squeezed her girlfriend's hand before letting go of it, all too excited to test the mattress out. She rushed towards the bed and perched on the edge of it, immediately sliding off the slick surface. " _Well_ …"

"Dear…" Regina laughed, stepping forward to help the teenager off the floor. The blonde resembled something that of an angry bunny as she attempted to pick herself up, but to no avail when those heels prevented her from doing so. Kicking them off and far away from her, Emma finally managed to stand with a giggling brunette beside her.

It wasn't like she could stay angry-bunny long, for she too joined in with a giggle of her own. "Sit on the bed _fully_ ," she noted to herself. "It's slippery."

"It tends to be like that, Emma." The brunette chuckled softly. She held onto the younger woman's arms still, squeezing them slightly as if to keep her steady; and even when their laughter had died down, leaving the two of them to be caught by the one another's eyes.

Whenever that had happened, Emma couldn't help but to let that smile reach her eyes. What she saw in those dark hues was all that she ever needed. She felt as if all the questions she ever had would be answered by a simple look in those chestnut pools, warm with her soul's reflected emotions.

And it was a beautiful thing when that smile was returned to her. Regina's lips couldn't have curved any further if she were the Cheshire cat because she saw the same in Emma's own, the blonde was certain of it.

Oh, but dear, as she gazed into those eyes now, the emotion had transformed. It was once something tragically sweet and now it was defiled by the sudden desire of lust; and it was that lust that drew the two beings closer toward one another to share a magical kiss.

Emma moaned softly against her lover's lips as she sought out the older woman's hips, and when she did, she _dug_ her fingers into the delicate flesh as her toes curled into themselves. This was something beautiful, she hummed her tune with Regina as their intimate moment was shared. The kiss grew more passionate, more devoted toward the original intent, leaving bruises on Emma's upper arms and no doubt to Regina's hips.

They gravitated toward each other, closer and closer until their beings met and moved as one, the kiss shared bringing them together in other means. It was frantic, but not sloppy, earning desperate groans as they fought to keep up with each other; hands drifting from their original spots to explore other grounds to root onto, unable to locate the perfect destination.

But then they ended up pulling away, Emma breaking the kiss first to gaze up at the brunette before her, eyes wide and eager. Regina nodded toward the bed where the blonde had immediately obeyed, carefully hopping onto the slick surface of the bedspread as she awaited her queen.

"You should join me." Emma smirked up at the brunette. Her entire body was bursting with new energy and staring at Regina who stood disheveled, lips swollen and pink, had only increased it tenfold.

The older woman grinned at the invitation and slowly padded toward her blonde lover, each step a seductive sway that drew Emma in deeper. Her once bright, innocent eyes had turned dark and full of desire. Her body was just as responsive when Regina had occupied the space next to her, climbing onto the mattress on her knees.

It gave her height against Emma's slightly slouching form, and when the blonde had moved to straighten up to meet her, her face was lost between two olive hands; lips soon covered by those soft, enticing ones that had her moaning at the sweet sensation. She eagerly responded to the kiss, her lips sliding hungrily against the older woman's as they fueled the kindled fire that had already started to burn. The latter groaned against her lips, hands fervently searching the blonde's body as her own pressed hotly against Emma's.

Her insides were on fire, begging to relieve of the pressure that had her heart thumping and the erogenous zones of her body aching. The pressure that Regina had exerted by her own form did little for Emma, for she had merely responded with a pleased mewl and forced the brunette onto her back.

Their lips broke apart from the sudden change in position, the older woman underneath her blonde lover gazed up with obsidian eyes and a salacious smirk on crimson lips. Emma had silently flipped a leg over the brunette's, straddling her hips with hands planted down on either side of her head. She smirked, their silence working together to create a novel as they spoke with the emotions in their dynamic orbs.

Regina followed Emma's eyes, the untold commands soon fulfilled as she made the first moves by unzipping the pure white dress. The blonde watched on as she had peeled it away, heart thrumming against her chest bringing heat to her face. The ache between her thighs grew unbearable by the time the top of her dress was pooled around her waist with Regina already at the hooks of her bra.

"Why can't clothes just vanish?" She groaned to herself, attempting to help the older woman out of her own violet dress with no fruit to bear. Their position had proven rather difficult to do much with the clothing and had Emma growing more frustrated – both sexually and emotionally.

Regina had nodded at the comment, her fingers sliding up the pale palette of her young lover's back and toward her shoulders where those olive digits plucked at the straps. Emma growled softly and watched as the white scrap of material fell away, leaving her exposed.

She didn't mind the least bit and, instead, had taken advantage to shift into a different position. Her dress was easily removed by then as were her panties, in which she had impatiently ripped off before bringing the curious raven-haired woman down on top of her.

The older woman chuckled at the younger woman's haste as she appeared to take things far more slowly. "You certainly are… _fast_ , now, aren't you?

Regina's hand fell to the blonde's cheek, cupping the soft surface. A smile as bright as the sun exploded on her face, leaving Emma to do the same, her heart squeezing in her chest.

"Gorgeous," she whispered, leaning down to brush her lips against the corner of Emma's mouth, her hot and moist breath falling in steady wisps against the pale surface.

Emma continued to smile as her hands explored up the brunette's sides, seeking out the zipper of her dress. She slid the metal piece down, the sound of the teeth separating seemed loud in the otherwise quiet room. Regina purred, hips gyrating slightly as that dress fell away, already exposing the sensitive mounds on her chest.

"Along with the scarf, you seem to have forgotten your bra as well." Emma chuckled softly, a hand sliding from her lover's tawny shoulder to slide down the rounded flesh, cupping the globe as if it were fragile.

Regina moan softly, her back arching into the gentle touch. "Oh, gods, I need you more than I thought." She bit her lip, brown eyes disappearing behind their lids.

"I know," Emma growled softly, hands falling to her girlfriend's hips to urge the older woman up. Regina protested for a moment before realizing her current situation, dress still pooled around her waist, and made a move to take it off.

The ruffled outfit was on the ground before either of the two could blink and the brunette teacher was completely nude as she settled back on Emma. The blonde had noticed the lack of undergarments, once again, her brows raising in surprise. She hadn't made a comment over the fact, instead, she wrapped her arms around Regina, their bare flesh pressed against one another.

Emma let out a soft grunt, the physical contact something that she had been waiting for. Something beautifully cruel as it weren't enough. The blonde hummed, wrapping her legs around the darker woman who lay between them, a pained look on her face as she attempted to grind against her with no relief.

A pale hand slid down the smooth flesh of Regina's back, landing on her rump as she lifted her head to press a light kiss to the full lips. Her hand _squeezed_ when the sweet gesture was returned, though far from the innocence that it had intended to be.

The brunette nipped and nibbled, tongue invading the blonde's mouth with great vigor as she slowly began to rock against Emma, the movements giving them a sweet friction that softened the sharp edges of their arousal.

Emma arched her back, fingers digging into the delicious, plump flesh of her lover's ass as the pleasure slowly increased. The nerves in her body grew more alert with each passing movement, coaxing the hairs on her body to stand on end.

Regina's breasts were sweet and soft, yet so miraculously hard as they brushed against her own sensitive chest, forcing her to arch even more as she attempted to exert more pressure.

" _Oh_ ," the blonde gasped sharply, the moan dissipating into her former teacher's mouth. It was met with Regina's own pleasured noises as an olive hand disappeared between their heated bodies. Emma gasped at the exploring fingers, her body responding erratically as they brushed over every sensitive part of her body. Over the excited pert of her chest to her ticklish sides and down the curve of them to land on her hip.

Emma merely whimpered, legs falling from around Regina's waist as the latter had that curious hand tease between them. The slender digits explored the slick folds, dipping tauntingly between them with a menacing smile. The younger woman's breath hitched at the long-awaited contact, her hips bucking up and grinding down in a desperate need for more. She murmured a plea, her entire body restless now as it was promised the relief it needed. Her own hands had encouraged, massaging her lover's backside as the other wrapped over her shoulder, short nails scratching against the tawny flesh.

This had, in fact, encouraged the brunette, for she thrust two digits between the aching folds. Her body moved with them, forcing a sharp gasp to fall from Emma's lips as she desperately gyrated against each thrust that was given from the brunette.

"Regina," Emma grunted the older woman's name, her face burying into raven locks as she continued to ride those fingers desperately. The duo had turned into a trio soon enough as the brunette shifted, pumping those fingers deeper and harder.

"Do you like that?" She growled, her face glistening with a sheen of sweat and glowing with a spicy smile.

" _Mm-hmm...!"_ Emma barely managed, nodding as she continued to grind up against those pleasing fingers, using Regina's shoulder as leverage to keep up with the set pace.

The brunette growled when her ass had been slapped, another encouragement for her continued pace. Her eyes only grew darker, the thrusts faster, and her own hips moving against Emma's thigh to put the edge off her growing arousal.

This only had Emma's moaning echo in the large bedroom. Her thigh had grown damper with each grind of her lover's hips, adding to the pressure building up within her loins.

Regina purred, a look of bliss on her face reflecting her young lover's as she felt the latter grow closer. Her thumb shifted to find the sweetest spot, brushing over the sensitive bundle of nerves that had Emma seeing stars.

White exploded in the blonde's vision as she tipped over the edge, hips bucking into Regina's quick paced ones with a hearty cry. The older woman hadn't bothered to slow her pace as she helped ride that magical climax out.

" _Fuck_!" The word was a short shout when the blonde finally tumbled down that celestial mountain, her chest heaving, and her skin slick with sweat.

The two of them lay there, each breathless as they stared into each other's eyes. A pale smile met a crimson one as chestnut met forest.

And then Emma was on top of the older woman with a giant smirk on her lips. Regina looked beautiful with messy hair and a luscious smile. The older woman looked up at her, legs opening for the younger one as she silently pressed a path of kisses down her chest.

The brunette giggled softly, her fingers curling into thick, blonde curls. She squirmed slightly, moaning as Emma's journey hadn't stopped. Her lips caressed the olive flesh, venturing from the valley between her breasts dipping down across her stomach until she finalized her voyage to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Both moaned.

Emma inhaled the musky scent of her lover, the excitement building between her thighs already. She had been waiting for this for far too long, or so it seemed. Groaning softly to herself, the blonde dipped her head between her lover's thighs to get the long-desired taste of the soaked folds, greedily lapping up the sweet nectar.

"Emma!" Regina immediately cried, hips sliding forward to add the desired pressure. Emma didn't hesitate to explore, her tongue delving between the nether lips to seek out the pert little bud that had a sharp cry echo in the room.

Accomplished, the blonde moved closer, her hands latching onto Regina's hips as she quickened her pace to earn more of the honeyed notes. It was a beautiful medley of musical pleasure when she had succeeded in that, the brunette's hips moving in time with each flick of the tongue.

" _Yes! Please! I need to come!"_ The teacher pleaded, her fingers tangling and tugging desperately in those golden locks as she continued to shift wantonly against Emma's face.

The blonde growled softly against her lover as her hair was tugged at once again by those olive digits that had weaved themselves in. It was nothing but pure desperation in the air, filled with cries and the heat of their love. Hips fringing against a tongue that aimed to please and teasing fingers that toyed with the sensitive folds below.

The teacher cried out as she attempted to add more pressure, her legs drifting further apart. "M-more!" A hand fell to the blonde's shoulder to squeeze, nails digging painfully into the hot, pale flesh.

Emma abided the request with a grunt, her head moving in time with her tongue as she carefully slid a single digit into her lover. And that had Regina's back arching off the bed, hands seeking solace in anything nearby as her peak hit hard and fast. She lay stiff, convulsing against the blonde's finger that helped ride out the heavenly heights.

And soon she fell, crashing back onto the mattress of reality. Her chest heaved to catch a breath as Emma pulled away from her position, licking her lips before wiping the rest of the moisture from her face. She had other plans for that raven-haired beauty.

Crawling slowly up the length of her lover's scrumptious form, she laid atop her heavily as she sought out the sultry lips awaiting her. Strong, tanned arms wrapped around her, pressing their nude flesh together in an intimate gesture even as Regina had turned onto her side with the blonde. Her legs curled around pale ones, entwining them as laces would on shoes.

Their intimate kiss ended soon after, leaving them to hold each other as if they were afraid of being separated. Their breaths mingled as one, eyes staring into each other's own.

"I love you," breathed the brunette, a single finger trailing from Emma's back to her face, petting it as if it were something so precious.

Emma's response wasn't too fast, nor too hesitant as she replied, eyes drooping as if she had gotten drunk off the loving caress. "I love you too, Gina."

Regina smiled at those five little words, her hand moving up the blonde's face to curl into those perfect blonde locks, slightly damped with sweat. Emma gazed up at her, heart seeming to squeeze in her chest. Her grip tightened as she lay her head on the older woman's chest, a happy hum falling from her lips.

Life seemed so _perfect_.


	28. Another Elbow to the Face

"Aw, shit! It's noon? Why the hell are you getting me up _now_?" Emma complained, eyes on the glowing numbers in front of her. She glowered at them before petulantly flipping onto her other side to face the guilty party that woke her.

Regina still lay next to the blonde, a wicked smile on her face. "It certainly is, dear. That means half the day has gone."

"Not really." The honey-haired woman shifted up, watching closely as her raven-haired counterpart brushed a finger over her shoulder. "We were up this morning."

"Mm, yes, but we _went to bed_ this… 'smorning." Her lips twitched in amusement for mocking Emma's pronunciation, or lack thereof when it came to the two words.

"Shush!" Emma playfully tickled her side, fingers dancing across the warm flesh.

Regina squealed in response, wiggling around like a worm as she sought to get away from the blonde's teasing fingers.

"It's not my fault you wanted to stay up all night, Gina." She continued, pausing the tickles before she got injured by any possible flailing limbs.

"So, you have decided to blame _me?_ " The brunette quirked a brow before quickly sitting up, shoving the blankets off her. "Emma, you have a special place that you're going to Ms. _Please-Don't-Stop-Let's-Get-Out-The-Toys_."

Emma's cheeks heated at the statement, her eyes watching the brunette curiously as the latter peeled herself from bed. "That wasn't _all_ me. You readily agreed." She muttered with a chuckle as Regina groaned softly, arms stretching above her head.

"Perhaps we are both the guilty party. Nonetheless, you had said, at some point if I do recall correctly, that you promised you would be over to your parents in the morning." She turned to face the younger woman who still lay in bed, emerald orbs glued to the masterpiece before her.

Emma couldn't seem to take Regina seriously. Not with the lack of clothing that she wore. Or the way she was giving her _that_ look with her hair resembling something that of a small child's doll. Boy, did she just love every inch of that woman? Inside and out.

"Noon is my morning, Ms. Troll Doll." The blonde snorted, climbing out of bed to join the brunette who glowered at her. The relief that Emma felt was marvelous knowing that Regina's eyes didn't have the ability to spit fire and roast her where she stood.

"I wouldn't talk. You look as if you stuck a fork in the power socket." A scoff left the older woman's lips as she moved past the younger one and toward the closet. Emma watched her current agenda, immediately assuming she was ready to take a shower.

A thought ran across the blonde's mind, drawing heat back to her skin already. Oh, dear, it would probably be well past noon if they showered together. Perhaps she should contemplate using one of the other bathrooms to freshen up or else they would never leave this house.

Because that was her thought process right now and she wondered how she wasn't a man. Sometimes, she feared for herself.

"You know, vagina, you don't always need to be in control." She voiced her thoughts aloud, plucking through her own wardrobe to find something suitable to wear.

Regina's head immediately popped away from whatever she was currently gazing at to give Emma a bewildered stare. "Did I just hear you talking to your… lady parts?"

"Lady parts?" Emma snorted at the term.

"Your… intimate bits." Regina gestured toward the blonde's groin, cheeks dusting a soft pink that Emma had noted quickly. "Why are you talking to it?"

"Because, it's like a penis, you know? I think it has a mind of its own and my goddamn clitoris is the brain of the operation." Emma grumbled, grumpily plucking her clothes from the current drawer. "Sometimes I wonder if I'm a man."

"Oh, dear…" The brunette pursed her lips together, head shaking slowly. "You are such a horn dog, Emma Swan."

"Well, that's a new one." Emma blinked slightly at the new term. "I'm just gonna… go shower and try to get my… 'lady parts' to stop thinking about you."

The brunette smiled, amusement glowing in her eyes. She leaned forward to press a kiss to the top of the blonde's head before speaking. "Go do that, dear. I think I'm too sore to even attempt to try anything else right now."

"Yeah. I guess I need to get my ass over to my parents before Mary Margaret has a cow." She smiled at the small gesture and leaned up to press a chaste kiss to Regina's lips before rushing off to the bathroom.

"Better not do that." She joked to herself, keeping her mock paranoia aside.

Emma shut the bathroom door behind her, realizing soon enough that she had totally asshole'd her way through to take a shower. Regina looked as if she had planned on taking one, but the brunette hadn't said a word when Emma mentioned she was hopping in.

Not trying to worry about that too much, the blonde placed her clothes on the toilet seat and prepared the shower, trying to think up any other thoughts to distract herself from the problem at hand. Mary Margaret and David were a good subject to think about, and her soon-to-be visit with them.

It wasn't long until she heard a voice in the distance, calling out to her.

"Are you finished, dear?" Regina's voice filtered through Emma's thoughts, forcing the blonde to look up as she exited the bathroom. The blonde nodded with a smile, heading toward the brunette who had donned something. "Are you ready to go?"

"You're not going to shower first?" Emma quirked a brow, drinking up her girlfriend's attire. She had wiped off the remainder of makeup from last night and pulled her hair back into a messy pony tail.

"I'll do that later. I plan on packing some things up while you're gone. No use showering if I'm just going to get dirty again." The brunette pursed her lips at the thought as she stood, wrapping her arms around Emma's waist once she reached the bed.

"Well, you could always shower _while_ getting dirty." Emma couldn't help the words that came out of her mouth and smirked at her lover who, in return, slapped her shoulder.

"Now, Emma. Stop thinking with your clit and get your shoes on. Your mother called while you were in the shower." She stepped away from the younger woman so she could get Emma's cellphone from the end table where it lay. "I think she's worried that you haven't shown up yet."

"Meh, she should know that I'm a late sleeper." The blonde huffed softly, taking the electronic device from Regina to check for the missed calls. Three of them showed up, all from Mary Margaret. "She called three times?"

"And I believe messaged twice."

Emma looked under her messages. At least the five that she _did_ have weren't all from Mary Margaret, though the lesser half was from her asking where she was, what she was doing, and when she would be coming to visit. With a soft sigh, the blonde shot off a quick response telling her mother that she would be there soon.

The blonde scoffed slightly at her phone as she slipped on a pair of shoes from the closet, Regina hounding her while she stood ready in the doorway. Emma quickly headed towards the brunette and followed her outside, reading the other three messages, two of which were from Ruby while the third was from David.

It was surprising to see something from David. He rarely ever messaged Emma.

Anxious about opening it up, Emma had decided to see what the hell Ruby was going on about.

 _ **Thanks for ditching us. What the hell?**_

That was the first message, causing the assumption of it being sent before Ruby and Belle had made their way outside to bubble up. The second one, though, was sent after.

 _ **Girl, we need to be talking about Ms. Mills here. I want to know more before you ditch us for Boston. Belle asked if you're moving in with Graham or going with Regina. WE MISSED TOO MUCH AND WE NEED TO KNOW MORE.**_

Emma shook her head to herself at the message. Of course, that was Ruby being her usual self, wanting to stick her nose in other people's business whether they liked it or not. She would no doubt try to squeeze every juicy detail that Emma wasn't willing to give out.

Smiling to herself, she responded back to the message with a simple " _later"_ and clicked out. She needed to see what David had said, and when he had said it. If Emma was lucky enough, it would only be an apology for his wife's persistence. If not… who only knows what her father had to say. With baited breath, the blonde opened the text message and read over the words displayed on her screen.

 _ **We need to talk when you get here, Emma. Without Mary Margaret. Maybe we can go test drive that new Bug of yours?**_

Emma's eyes widened at the message.

"Is something wrong, love?" As they slowed to a stop at the sign, Regina frowned towards Emma. "You look…"

"It's nothing." Emma shrugged, shoving her phone back into her pocket. "David just messaged me."

"Oh?" She didn't look as concerned nor worried as Emma had felt. Though she had no reason to. "What did he say?"

"He wanted to talk with me. Without Mary Margaret, so that means it's something he doesn't want her to know." Emma elaborated, eyes on the road ahead. They were nearing the apartment, and as they grew closer, her stomach did flips until it hurt.

"What is wrong with that?" Regina innocently asked, turning the next corner that led up to the apartment.

Emma swallowed thickly, eyes on the building as they pulled to the curb. "When he doesn't want her to know something, that means he doesn't want to hear her bitch about something. It's usually if I do something really, really bad or…" She shook her head absently because she didn't know what else he would discuss with her when Mary Margaret was intentionally out of sight.

"Oh…" The brunette frowned, eyes falling to the restless hands on her younger lover's lap. "What do you think he wants to talk to you about?"

"I… I don't know. I guess I'll just have to find out." Emma sighed softly, her fingers fighting each other.

"You don't have to go up there if you do not wish to." The older woman broke apart the restless hands, gathering one up in her hand to squeeze it reassuringly. "I won't hesitate to take you back home."

Emma lifted her gaze to the raven-haired woman, a gentle tug offered a sweet smile on the corners of her mouth when she met coffee eyes. "Gina…" she whispered, setting her free hand on top of the one that had captured her own. "I need to find out no matter what. It'll kill me if I don't, okay?"

"I understand, honey." Regina nodded slightly, eyes faltering. "I hope that everything will be fine. But if there is any trouble, do not hesitate to call me, alright?"

"I won't. I mean, I will. I'll call you." The blonde leaned forward to brush her lips against the brunette's olive cheek before pulling back.

She gently shook her hands from Regina's grip to unbuckle her seat belt, eyes quickly glancing behind her to gaze at the window to the Nolan's loft. She swore someone was watching her, she couldn't shake that feeling. But when she tried to search for a silhouette as suspect, there wasn't a thing there.

"Perfect. I'll miss you, Emma." Regina hummed, bringing her freed hand to cup the blonde's cheek.

The blonde turned into the tawny hand, a sweet smile stretched wide across her lips. Somehow, her racing heart had slowed into a perfect, relaxed beat. "I'll miss you too, Gina."

Regina's warmed smiled burned into the blonde's brain, the prior's hand falling away from the latter's cheek. Emma breathed, staring at the older woman for a moment longer before trying to calm herself back down from the sudden rise in her pulse. She forced herself to turn away to reach for the door handle, popping the passenger's side open. She felt a hand on her back, rubbing across her shirt in another suit to calm her.

"Goodbye, Emma." She whispered behind the blonde as she had exited the vehicle.

"Bye, Gina." Emma turned, smiling at her as an attempt to prolong the time. But she couldn't stand there and stall forever, so she nodded and shut the door to the Mercedes, soon twirling around toward the tall building.

Inhaling deeply, she pushed forward and opened the lower level door, only to be stopped immediately by David's wide smile and friendly arms.

Emma blinked, momentarily stunned at this gesture as she willed her body to respond by returning the embrace. "What brings you down here?" She asked nervously, sneaking a glance at the reflection in the door's window. Regina had, thankfully, pulled away by then. But that still hadn't mean David didn't see her which brought back the twisting of her insides.

"I need to talk with you and I figured to meet you down here before Mary Margaret knew that you were here… Officially, anyways." His arms dropped to his sides as he looked at her with contemplative eyes. "And I thought that, maybe, I could let you drive me around town in the Bug while we do it."

The friendly smile that he offered had calmed Emma's nerves somewhat. It didn't seem that he was angry at all, though the man could hide it well.

"Okay." She mumbled, eyes moving toward the little yellow vehicle parked across the street.

"Do you want the keys?" David grinned automatically, offering her the keys before heading to the Bug after she had accepted them. Swallowing, Emma followed behind, nervously toying with the keys in hand.

Quickly, Emma opened the door and dove in, pausing momentarily as she drank up the old car for the very first time.

"Wow…" she breathed in awe, eyes moving over the tan upholstery. "It's beautiful."

"I knew that you'd like it." He smiled warmly, watching the excited look on his daughter's face. "You do, right?"

"Hell yeah!" The sudden excitement had partially eased the growing worry within her. She quickly followed as David had and clicked on her seat belt.

"Are you ready?" He chuckled, amusement sparkling in his eyes.

The blonde merely nodded, more excited than not to drive _her_ car. It wasn't exactly new or fancy, but neither were most things in her life. She didn't mind it one bit, either, because it was _something_ , and that something meant that someone had put consideration into it for her. And that was enough for Emma.

Humming to herself, she inserted the key into the ignition and turned it on. The engine roared to life, the sound echoing like the perfect melody in the blonde's ears.

Putting her foot on the brake, she shifted gears into drive and started to carefully pull away from the curb. Her heart rate increased instantly. She knew as soon as she was on that road, David would start talking. About what, she had no idea. Hopefully he would only be curious about getting her license before she left and nothing else. Perhaps those would be his implications. He was taking her out for a drive, after all.

As she came to a stop at the end of the street, she turned a curious gaze to her father. The man hadn't said a word just yet as he remained silent, staring out at the street in front of them. As Emma had observed him closer, he almost looked as if he were thinking hard about something. Almost as if he were contemplating on how to start.

"What did you want to talk about?" Emma initiated the conversation with her inquiry, pulling from the stop sign to head forward to no particular destination.

David answered the question with silence, leaving Emma to chance another glance at him. The man looked slightly uncomfortable now. He sat with his hands on his lap, slightly dancing upon his thigh in a gesture that Emma was wary to assume.

After a prolonged silence, Emma had concluded that he wasn't going to speak and continued onward, smoothly turning the next corner that lead to the main street. His quietness was bothering her greatly. Surely David wouldn't be so hesitant if he had wanted to speak about what Emma had previously thought. He wouldn't get this caught up over a license, right?

But what he had finally said had answered her question, right in the middle of Main Street.

"I saw you and Regina."

Emma's foot slammed on the break, disregarding any cars behind her once those words had processed.

Her heart was somewhere in her throat as she tried to regain control with little luck. The little Bug putted down the street after the blaring of angry horns behind her had sounded.

"You… what? When?" She furrowed her brows as she tried to act nonchalant, the words that had been caught in her throat finally escaped into a messy case of verbal diarrhea. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Emma, don't you play dumb with me." David's voice was _that_ kind of stern that Emma didn't argue with. "Pull over."

"Yeah…" The blonde willingly obliged as she pulled into an empty parking lot.

Swallowing thickly at the newest revelation, she put the vehicle into park and turned it off. Her eyes caught the reflection of herself in the mirror as she readied to turn her gaze to her father. For a moment, she could have mistaken herself for a ghost. She sure as hell was as pale as one.

"Last night, Emma. I had to patrol the school grounds and…" He trailed off, evidently becoming more uncomfortable with the subject at hand. "And I saw you… with Regina while you two were-"

Emma held her hand up to stop him, yelping in protest. Her once drained cheeks were now once again full of blood, warming her face quickly. "I get it! I was there!"

"Yes, you were, and that's what I wanted to talk about. Emma, what's going on?" He didn't sound too particularly angry, instead, most of his emotion lie with mortification over what he had witnessed.

The blonde's gaze dropped to her lap, unsure of how she should answer that very question. It was obvious that he knew what had happened. What more should she say? He was the sheriff. If he found out that their relationship had extended before just that one night, what would he do?

Emma wasn't certain of David's opinion on this. The look on his face hadn't told much. He neither looked angry nor reassuring. Just… indifferent.

"Emma, I understand your hesitation." David finally spoke after a few minutes of silence, his hand finding her arm. "I promise you this, Emma. I promise you that I won't let anything bad happen to either one of you if you give me a straight answer."

Emma's forest gaze fell to the masculine hand on her arm. Her heart stuttered. Should she trust to confide in this man about her relationship with Regina? David had never broken his promises to her before and if he had ensured this great of one…

"I… What do _you_ think is going on?" She queried quietly, eyes rising to meet his pale blue hues.

"I don't know, Emma. That's why I'm asking you." He paused for a moment as if he noted the dubious look that was offered. "Mary Margaret doesn't know and she doesn't have to know."

"Do you know how hard this is?" Emma pressed her back into the driver's seat, the lack of food hadn't helped her aching stomach from giving a grumble.

"I can understand that it would be. What I saw you share with Regina-…"

"That's it. You don't know what I share with her. It's more than just a kiss." Emma mumbled the words, half hoping that he hadn't heard. But with her luck, he had, and made a comment over it as well.

"Then tell me, Emma. Why not make me understand? Has this been… going on longer than just last night?" He curiously asked, no harm in the question.

Emma sighed softly, her heart sinking to the digestive organ below it. "You know, you never asked where I was staying. You just accepted it."

"Emma, what does that have to do with-" Then his words cut off, almost in a comical way that matched his face. He just stared at her. "Are you living with her?"

"Where else would I go?" Emma didn't deny the inquiry, leaving it open with a question of her own.

This made the man pause as the reality of Emma's open question soaked in, striking him like a rock. David looked up at his daughter, lips parted in shock. This wasn't exactly something he had been planning to hear.

"How… long?" His brows furrowed, scrunching together as he tried to piece his scattered thoughts. "How long has this been going on, Emma?"

Emma frowned slightly, fingers plucking at a string on her jeans. When she didn't seem to respond to her father's question, he inquired further. "Is this why you… told us that on New Year's?"

"Yes! Why is it such a big deal? I just wish you wouldn't bother me about it." The blonde snapped, glaring at the man with the attitude of her own age before realizing what she had done. She sighed softly, mumbling an apology under her breath. "I don't… I don't feel comfortable talking about this."

"Okay." David nodded, the hand on her arm had moved up to gently rub her back in a reassuring manner. "I promise, Emma, that I will not judge you or Regina. Alright? I will look the other way. I won't tell anyone."

"Is that why you didn't want to talk with Mary Margaret about this?" Emma asked quietly, her frazzled nerves relaxing into a more comfortable state. David wasn't a bad man. He didn't go back on his word. Maybe he would be a good ally in this… Especially if anything ever happened with Cora.

"Could you even _imagine_ her if she knew?" He let out a strained laugh, shaking his head.

Emma nodded at that because, yes, she could and it wouldn't be pretty. Mary Margaret would shit out a cow and enough bricks to build it a barn if she ever knew anything that was going on between Regina and the blonde. That's where David was the cooler parent. He wasn't as optimistic as his wife nor as emotional as she was when it came to the smallest of things.

"I can and it would be ugly." Emma muttered, sliding down in the seat. "I'm glad you're cool about this. I mean, you are, right?"

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, honestly." David sighed, looking at his daughter. "But as long as you're happy. You are, right?"

The blonde chuckled nodded. "Yeah, I am. It's the happiest I've been. I have you guys, Ruby and Belle, and… And I have someone that I love." Emma closed her eyes, an absent smile on her face as she thought of that very someone. Raven hair, olive skin, and a killer smile.

"… You love her?"

The three words clung in the air like a rancid stench stuck in an airless room. Emma swallowed. She didn't know what he thought their relationship was like, but apparently, he hadn't thought it to be that serious. The way he looked at her proved just that.

"Yes."

"Oh." He slowly nodded, a gentle grin curving his lips. "So, you're in love?"

"And it's beautifully tragic, so I have discovered." She hummed, leaning into her father, not exactly denying the question. After all, she _had_ so blatantly stated it.

"It is, Emma. It's tough." David rumbled, his hand moving up to ruffle the hair on top of her head. This earned a soft growl, though she didn't make a move because she kind of did like it and being messed with wasn't so bad when it was innocent.

"Yeah…" She frowned, taking the words to heart.

The two of them sat quietly after that, letting the conversation at hand sink in. It felt as if it were still stuck on the surface, feeling almost surreal. Emma had never imagined that her parents would ever come to this knowledge. Of course, it was illogical when the two were older and wiser of the situation. She wouldn't have a problem telling them as she aged and their relationship less peculiar.

But it was the day after she had graduated high school and she had been seeing Regina prior to that. No one was ever supposed to have known about their secret relationship. But, somehow, they had worked their way out of the protective shell they had distributed and spilled what was held within. Although, the two of them weren't exactly subtle about their relationship. Obviously considering the current circumstances.

That was one of the reasons Boston sounded like heaven. They could roam freely without worry of being caught. They could flaunt their love for each other if they wished without the immediate consequences. They would be able to enjoy a meal together at a restaurant without having to sit separate or so awkwardly far away from each other as they had before.

Emma smiled absently to herself, something warm and sweet, melting her features. She would be damned if she couldn't show off Regina. The image burned in her brain from earlier still, leaving the breathtaking image imprinted in the forefront of her mind.

There was nothing else that she would rather have there.

"What are you thinking about?" David asked quietly, propping himself up slightly to catch a look at the wide smile on her face.

Emma jumped slightly, warmth rushing to her face. "Regina," she answered honestly, eyes falling to her hands.

"You really do love her, don't you?" He stared baffled as if he hadn't believed it before.

Emma returned with a serious look, almost hurt that he hadn't believed her. But whatever he had noticed on her latest expression had did a complete 180 on his attitude. "And she loves me. Why would we risk everything to be together? It certainly wouldn't be worth a damned thing if we didn't share mutual feelings."

"I understand, Emma. I really do. I love your mother, need I remind you."

"Sometimes I have my concerns, but you always stick by her side." She gave him a wry look. "Even when I know that you may disagree given a situation."

That's when David donned a guilty visage. "I know… But, that can be a lesson taught. Even if you share a heart with someone, it doesn't mean that you need to share a mind as well… Or go along with something that may make them happy, but you the opposite."

"I know, David." Emma stated. "I would never let anyone control me."

"I never had that doubt, Emma. You're strong and independent." Her father grinned softly, pressing a kiss to the side of her head before sitting up. "I have an idea…. If you're up for it?"

The blonde quirked a brow at the man beside her, awaiting what he had on his mind. It was a sudden subject changer that had taken her aback. "Depends."

"Why don't we go grab lunch? We can talk some more about this… Don't think that I'm not curious." His light eyes twinkled when he turned them on her. "You look hungry."

"I am. I literally woke up, took a shower, and came here all thanks to Gina, 'cause she felt the need to wake me up." She grinned, starting the Bug up once again.

Her stomach twisted with a swarm of butterflies as they flapped futilely to escape the rising angst. And flap they did as she pulled from the parking lot with David chuckling awkwardly at her words. That was the reality of it setting in once again.

The words were all but foreign to their ears and not quite the most comfortable than they could have been. That was because David didn't want to see what he considered his little girl talking about adult relationships, yet he thirsted to gain more knowledge over the most important details.

Emma, on the other hand, had been adamant to keep the relationship with the older woman a secret from her parents and had refrained from saying a word about it. It was odd to even speak of her former teacher as something other than that with them. She couldn't help but to worry about the look in David's eye the more she elaborated, or even just mentioned Regina's name. He almost looked disgusted, yet oddly joyful that his daughter was happy.

It was a frightening mixture that yanked Emma's gut right from her body. The man may support it, but his morals were still hesitant when it came to accepting the entire process as his brain worked over what the hell was happening.

And the blonde couldn't blame him if he were feeling like that. The woman that she was dating was only a mere two years younger than him.

It was a long, awkward lunch with just that on the mind as Emma elaborated further about her relationship with the older woman. She began from the start, accepting to be honest with her father about how long it had gone on. Of course, she had scraped out a few of the intimate details and a few more in between, but kept to the timeline of the story from their lunches to the kiss in the car and beyond that, extending to Boston and how she had gone with Regina.

She had smiled when showing him the swan pendant given to her as a birthday gift from the brunette woman. After getting a stern look and small lecture about lying from David about the Boston trip, she droned on about some of the more mundane points in her relationship before heading toward the downfall.

Winter formal.

She explained why she was really upset that night. Then there hadn't been much else to explain after New Year's. She left out anything that dealt with Cora, wary about informing her father of the woman. Of course, Emma would have _loved_ to tell him about Regina's mother's misdeeds, but she would rather take that up with Regina before she released any information on the lawyer.

And who only knows how the older brunette would act upon the newest revelation of David's fresh knowledge over their relationship. For some reason the blonde was hesitant on telling her, but knew she needed to release the information. Perhaps David would play the perfect ally for them.

"Why am I so oblivious?" He had asked himself when all was finished, staring blankly at his empty plate.

"You aren't. I just hide things well. Especially when it's important to me." Emma reassured as she had offered a smile.

David was even still stunned on their way back to the apartment. His eyes were glued to the road ahead, remaining nothing but silent the entire ride.

Of course, that was, until they were a block from the apartment and the words from his mouth were almost as if he had asked them on autopilot.

"Have you had sex with her?"

That poor Bug couldn't have stopped dead in the middle of the street any faster the way Emma had slammed on the brakes. Wide, green eyes on the man beside her. "Why the hell would you ask me that?"

"Uh…" He looked just as shocked that those very words had left his mouth.

"It's a little useless to tell me about the birds and the bees when there is no flower to pollinate… Or should I say bee or bird to pollinate it." Emma snorted with her own self-amusement, earning a strained chuckle from David. "And why would I answer that question willingly?"

But the response must have been the wrong one because he went pale. "Oh my god, you _did_!"

" _No_!" The blood rushed to Emma's face as fast as it had fled her father's.

"… You do know, I _was_ kidding, right?" He coughed, turning red now as he had realized just what the reaction from his daughter had meant. The air felt a little too thick to breathe.

"Shut up, David. Just shut up." Emma muttered, driving the last few yards to the apartment before attempting to park across from it.

Desperate to get the hell out of the car, Emma quickly turned it off and popped out. David was soon behind her as she made haste to the door, face still florid. "I can't believe you!" She continued to mutter, holding the door open for the blond man.

"I was just kidding, Emma. You're like… My little girl. Why would I even attempt to want to even _think_ about something like that?"

"It's not that I think you're a pervert, David. It's just awkward as hell." The blonde stopped midway up the stairs, turning to look down at him. "That's just… A Mary Margaret question that makes weird tension."

"I _know_. I know. I'm slightly turning into your mother and I am mortified because of it." He shot her an awkward smile, shrugging. "But when you live with someone long enough."

"Well I'm not wearing pencil skirts or fancy underwear, yet, but beware." Emma joked, making her way up the rest of the stairs and to the green door that bore the number 3.

"… I didn't mean literally, but it's nice to know what's in her closet." He stared at the blonde curls in front of him. "Or how you know what she wears under them."

"I think you answered your own question, you smart little cookie." She offered a condescending look to him before opening the door to the loft, immediately being bombarded by Mary Margaret.

"Oh, my! Where have you two been? It's been almost three hours since you left, David."

"Sorry, Mary Margaret. I took Emma out to drive the Bug around and we hit Granny's for lunch since she didn't eat. I brought you back a burger." He offered a brown paper bag to his wife who had only stared at it.

"You should tell me these things, David, I was worried sick." Mary Margaret chastised, putting on her stern face.

Emma's brows rose.

"Honey," David sighed, taking one of his wife's hands. She attempted to resist, but he only tightened his grip and brought her closer. "I just wanted to spend some time with Emma."

"But-"

" _Alone_." He enunciated, pulling her completely into her arms as she began to protest. "You get to do girly things all the time."

"I'm sorry, David. I just… worry. And you left without telling me." Mary Margaret lamented into his shirt.

Emma stood behind with a quirk of her brow, watching the two with an amused smile. David gave her a look over his wife who had still clung to him while he rubbed soothing circles to her back.

"Hey, M'n'M, we get to spend all day together. Okay?" Emma finally piped up, taking a step forward. The brunette turned around and nodded, her face florid and her eyes jovial.

"We have so much to do before you leave." She sniffed, disconnecting from her husband's arms to wrap them around her daughter. "So much! Too much… Come on! I wanna see what your father showed you."

Emma's brows flew up once again when the older woman grabbed her arm and started to tug at her. David chuckled at the response, elaborating for his anxious partner.

"I think she wants you to drive the Bug."

"Oh…" Emma mumbled, letting herself be dragged right back outside. As soon as they broke the barrier to the outside world, she blushed. The little yellow car was parked across the street, half of its back end in the middle of the lane. She certainly could have done better.

"David! You didn't teach her how to parallel park properly?"

"What- No! I mean… Yes! She still has learning to do…"

The blonde shook her head as the two continued to bicker, even as they entered the Bug.

This was going to be a long day.


	29. The Greater Plan

Life after that day seemed to fly by faster than the blonde had seemed to anticipate. Her fun summer of freedom was slipping through her fingers as she progressed further into adulthood. And it hadn't helped that she spent those weeks packing up the life that had slowly blossomed so that she could bloom in a larger garden as she set out to create a new one.

She would _flourish_ with Regina by her side, acting as her miracle grow.

That woman was her rock, sticking by her through the ups and downs of her roller coaster life. Even the awkward middle when Emma had admitted to David's knowledge of them with a blurted, "David found out about us."

Regina had turned almost as pale as Emma when the words had registered. The blonde hadn't known if she were going to vomit or faint; but neither had happened. Instead, the brunette had ended up taking a seat on the bed, eyes wide.

"Did you tell him?" She had finally mumbled, voice strained.

"He saw us, and there was no getting around. He knows everything, now." Emma elaborated as she had joined the brunette, sitting both literally and metaphorically on the edge of her seat.

It had taken quite a while for Regina to process this just as David had when Emma had spoken to him. The older woman sat there, leaving the bedroom void of all noises aside from their unsteady breaths. She had absolutely no idea of how the brunette teacher would even come to terms with this new information, or how she would react toward it.

But then the silence was eventually broken as Regina had grown enough courage to inquire further about the discussion. Emma had warily answered each question, reassuring every so often that David was a trustworthy man and would keep their secret to himself. Regina still hadn't seemed convinced, but she had calmed enough to accept the words for the moment.

Over time, she had become comfortable with David's knowledge and had even embraced it when it came to certain things; things that Emma had suggested such as David being help when it came to Cora. Though, that had aroused panic within the brunette teacher as she had nearly bit her young lover's head off about telling David.

"He doesn't know!" Emma had flung her hands in the air, eyes wide at the scary vein that popped angrily out of Regina's forehead. "I wasn't going to say anything until I talked to you. I know how he can be and he'd probably hunt her ass down, wherever the hell she is."

"Good." Regina had merely nodded and that had ended the conversation.

Emma had forgotten about it, weeks later as the final day of June turned up on their calendar. Her mind was occupied otherwise and the thought of Cora or David had escaped her mind as both she and Regina had prepared for their move to Boston. The house was mostly packed up by then, filled with boxes in empty rooms and the furniture that lay amongst them.

But, throughout the distractions and procrastinations, they had managed to get everything done and ready for the move. Regina had rented a moving truck to be picked up on the first of July, which would mark the first official day of their moving.

The tears in her eyes now would not succeed in breaking through tomorrow. She would spend all today, _alone_ , ridding herself of those pesky emotions, the blonde thought of that triumphantly as she rolled over, crystalline streams leaking down her cheeks. Thankfully, Regina was currently in the bathroom taking her morning shower. Emma had decided to sleep in longer, though she was unable to. Everything seemed to have struck her at once when the brunette disappeared into the other room.

" _Fuck!_ " Emma hissed, slamming a fist into the pillow.

Why was this getting to her?

Why was it so hard moving when she had bounced from home to home before?

It was different this time, she thought. This _was_ her home.

She knew that she would have had to leave this place eventually.

Coughing slightly, the blonde sniffled and curled into herself, bringing a pillow into her arms.

"Honey, are you alright?" The familiar melody of her lover's voice lilted before the blonde. Green eyes lifted to see the brunette standing on her own side of the bed, looking down at the small ball of a human, hidden within blankets and pillows.

"Yeah." Her voice cracked.

Regina was on the bed before she could say another word and was soon engulfed in warm, loving arms. The brunette lay next to her, replacing the pillow as she curled against the blonde with a concerned face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" Emma sighed, arms wrapping around the brunette as if she were a life preserver. "Everything. Moving. Leaving."

"Oh…" Regina frowned, tawny fingers curling through blonde tangles. The fresh smell of crisp apples permeated the blonde's senses, along with the sweet honeyed scent of the older woman's body wash. Wet droplets of water pelted her every so often from dark locks, hitting her pale skin with cool drips. "Are you stressed over it, my love?"

The blonde shifted, wiping her face on the brunette's terrycloth robe. "No… It's… It's just leaving. You know?" Emma sighed, breathing through the next wave of emotion that threatened to draw from her eyes. After making sure she had swallowed it back down her constricting throat, she had spoken again, voice hoarse. "I've left so many times in my life and this must be the hardest. It's like… It's like a regular, normal kid leaving their parents for the first time in their life."

Regina nodded silently, the hand that had been in Emma's hair moved to rub her cheek. "Hey, I know. Perhaps not to the extent that you do, but I know enough. And remember that I am here, Emma, if you need me. Don't be afraid to show your emotions."

There was a pause in her speech as those chestnut eyes disappeared. She leaned forward to press a kiss to Emma's forehead, a sigh soon following. "Bottling them up isn't good. You will merely harm yourself in the process, and possibly others. Longer fumes, bigger explosions."

"I know, Gina bear." The blonde nuzzled into the brunette, face pressing into the older woman's neck. She stayed there quietly, enjoying the tender familiarity of Regina as she held her. The emotion that had stirred up within her had quickly dissipated with the new affection – a new emotion replacing it. Her heart swelled in her chest.

"Hey, I love you," Regina rumbled, the words vibrating in her throat which had seemed to tickle the blonde's nose. She made a soft noise and shifted to consider those dark, adoring eyes.

"Hey, I love you, too," she responded, a sheepish smile spread across her thin, pink lips.

Regina looked as if she had melted. The grin on her face lilted her lips far enough to reach her eyes, soft and bright. "We should do something. Take our minds off everything. Relax before the big day."

"Do you wanna eat out?" Emma's grinned innocently, head tilting slightly.

"You know that we cannot, Emma." Regina quirked a brow at the young woman. "Why are you looking at me like-…? Emma _Swan_!"

The blonde burst into a fit of laughter at the dark pink that had tinted her lover's cheeks, soon turning her entire face red. That little vein popped out once again, both of mortification and slight irritation. "Ooh, _now_ you understand."

"Is that what you want, darling?" The brunette flopped onto her back and pushed herself up to lean against the headboard. "To make love?"

The blonde suddenly turned shy, shrugging as she kept eyes on the brunette through her lashes, a small curve on her lips. "Maybe."

"Then let us start our day off perfectly." Regina hummed, grabbing Emma's face to pull her up for a sweet kiss. The blonde melted into it, pressing herself into the kiss with a delicious moan.

"Okay," she breathed, allowing the brunette to fall on top of her.

By three in the afternoon, the two of them had drug themselves out of bed to get ready and clobber down the stairs to continue with their day, whatever that entailed.

"What are we doing?" Emma had asked once they hit the bottom landing, a brow quirked.

Regina paused and turned around, a smile on her face. "You know what? I forgot."

"You… _forgot_?"

"I seem to have, yes." The older woman chuckled softly, a hand sliding through her hair. "I cannot seem to think straight after that last round."

"I told you I was talented." Emma's brows waggled playfully as she sidled up to the brunette woman, quite enjoying the sudden memories that flooded her face. "Now, tell me, how many times did you come?"

" _Shh_!" Regina turned away from the blonde, flustered as she moved toward the front door to grab her purse and the keys. "Can we not talk about that?"

"You can be such a prude, sometimes." The blonde joked, following behind her. "Sorry, Gina."

"It's alright." Regina turned to grab her young lover's hand, tugging her close as they exited the manor. "I was merely kidding."

" _Mmmmhm_." She wrinkled her nose cutely, giving her a look that told otherwise. "Where are we going, anyways, Ms. Prude?"

"Well, if you're going to continue calling me prude, _you_ will be heading to your parents' house."

"Shutting up." The blonde pursed her lips together, eyes wide.

"That's my good girl." Regina smirked, giving her hand a tight squeeze. "And we shall see where the car takes us."

With those words, Emma rushed toward the vehicle leaving Regina in her wake. She pressed the palms of her hand to the passenger side door, pushing against it. "O Mighty Mercedes Benz, do show us the enlightened path of our agenda today."

"Emma," Regina laughed, coming up behind her. "You are a –and this is quoting you- 'dork.'"

"Proudly bred and born." The blonde gave her a cheesy smile which earned a firm smack to her ass. She squeaked, smirking when the brunette rounded the car. "Ooh, you're doing _that_ again? Smack me some more, baby."

" _Emma_ ," Regina reprimanded, but the playful roll of her eyes gave her away.

"I ain't done nothin'." The blonde lifted her hands up, smirking as she opened the door to pop in.

"There are so many things wrong with that sentence, Emma. Have I failed as a teacher?"

" _No_ , I'd say you've done rather well." Emma leaned towards the older woman, giving her an innocent look. "Of course."

"Of course." Regina echoed, sticking the key into the ignition.

"Now, can you tell me what we're doing?"

"I was planning on heading to the store to pick something up for lunch. Though, I do suppose it will be dinner soon enough." The brunette quirked a brow at the younger woman next to her. Emma blinked slightly, returning the look with a nod as she absently confirmed her words. "Would you like to drive to the grocery store?"

"… hell yeah!" The blonde squealed at the sudden inquiry, jumping almost literally into Regina's lap. This earned a soft chuckle as the older woman attempted to exit the vehicle to allow for the blonde to get into her former seat.

Emma was ready in the driver's seat, belt on and foot on peddle by the time Regina had entered the passenger's seat. She chuckled at her young lover's excitement. The two of them had done this often when they explored around town, and even just as something to pass the time, as Regina helped her refine her driving skill.

"Getting a license is on my bucket list." Emma mumbled to the brunette, putting the Benz in reverse to exit the driveway. "It would be nice to drive. Legally, anyways."

"Oh, yes!" Regina nodded, eyes in the rear-view mirror. "You do have the documents, correct?"

"…documents?" Emma blinked slightly, stopping just before the street as a motorcycle zoomed down the pavement.

"Your birth certificate and social security card. You do have those, correct?" The brunette frowned slightly, eyes no longer on the mirror, instead they were pinned to her blonde counterpart.

"I might. You know… I got tossed around a lot. I'm not sure if I physically ever had them." Sudden panic bubbled up in the blonde. "Mary Margaret and David never said anything about it when I mentioned a license. So, either they do have them or they assume that I do."

"You might have to ask them before we leave, dear." The brunette turned slightly, watching the scenery go by. "Perhaps we could pop over there?"

"Aw, I don't wanna." The blonde pouted childishly. "Can I ask my dad tomorrow? He's coming over to help us, anyways."

"Emma, you have a bad habit of procrastination." Regina clucked. "Just so long as it's before we leave."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll talk to him when we get up, so if he does have it, he can bring it over." Emma sighed slightly, pulling into the grocery store parking lot.

"Emma," the brunette sighed, unbuckling her belt.

Frowning, the blonde set the car into park and turned toward the older woman. "I'm sorry. I just… don't want to worry about that right now. I mean, I know I should but… Ugh! I feel too fucking stressed. There's too much going on right now."

"I know, Emma. How do you think I feel?" Regina attempted to give her a reassuring look, a hand gently massaging her shoulder. "Life isn't at its best, but it _will_ get better, I promise you."

"Nothing's _bad_. It's just… stressful with the move. Life is pretty good, but I want to relax. I don't want to worry about anything."

"But that's the life of an adult, Emma. It isn't all fun and games. You have stress and things to worry about every day." The brunette brought the back of her knuckles up to caress the blonde's cheek, a curve lilting her lips. "But when you do, it's magical."

"I know…" The blonde sighed, head turning into the touch. "I apologize for being a… _baby_."

"Do not apologize. You are fine. It's alright." Regina smiled, leaning in to replace her knuckles with her lips. "Now, I'll be right back, alright? I'm going to grab something for us to eat tonight."

"Mm, like what?" Emma tilted her head, watching as the other party shifted to get out.

"Sandwiches? Perhaps some chips. Some other things that don't require using things that we've packed?" The brunette chuckled, popping open the passenger's door.

"Can we get ice cream?" Emma beamed, bouncing slightly. "We have plastic spoons. We can eat it out of the container."

"… good point. Ice cream is on the list. What kind?" Regina smiled, pausing with one leg out of the car. "Quick before I get mutilated here."

"I can still fuck you if you have one leg."

" _Emma_."

"Cherry nut. I always loved that flavor." The blonde smiled.

"Mm, it's become my favorite as well." The brunette leaned over to give a quick kiss to Emma's cheek before popping out of the car. "I'll be right back."

"Okie dokie!" Emma gave her a sweet grin and watched on as the brunette woman headed into the store. Her eyes absently remained on the entrance as she had waited, her hand reaching to turn on the stereo.

Soon enough that magical brunette woman slipped out the automatic doors to the grocery store with brown, paper bags bundled in her arms. She wore a smile upon coming into eye contact with the blonde who watched every step until she opened the passenger's door.

"I have returned!" She set the bags down on the seat between them before ducking in. "With all the essentials that we will be needing tonight. Prepare for a lazy day, my dear Emma, full of Netflix, snuggling, and a feast."

"Mm! I can't wait!" Emma squeaked, starting the Benz back up so they could do just that.

"Then hurry and get us home." Regina chuckled as the blonde backed out of the parking lot and onto the street. "But not too fast, of course…"

"Yeah." She nodded, pulling up to the stop sign. "I don't think we want that."

Emma tried her best to make haste back to the house, remaining chicken as she drove relatively slow down the streets. She still wasn't too comfortable with driving fast. She didn't want to get them pulled over, or there was also that undying fear of getting into a fatal accident.

Regina merely giggled the entire way as she watched Emma, holding onto the steering wheel like an elderly woman who could barely see what was in front of her.

"You're adorable when you drive, Emma." Regina couldn't help but to make the comment that had been on the tip of her tongue.

"Oh, ha-ha." Emma huffed, turning onto their street. "I bet you were like this when you were first learning."

"Alright, alright. You're right." The brunette turned her eyes on Emma. "But we are all wary of driving the first time. It's something we are not used to, but you'll eventually-"

Regina paused in the middle of her sentence as soon as they had pulled into the driveway of their soon-to-be former home, and directly behind a car that hadn't been there when they had left earlier that day.

"Who's that?" Emma was first to speak, breaking the silence that had grown by the time she had turned the engine off.

The older woman merely shrugged, her mocha eyes glued to the deep crimson corvette that harbored the unknown visitor. The teacher was out of the car before her blonde lover could make a remark. She hastily made her way to the expensive vehicle, intent on her confrontation until she had found the driver's seat to be empty. The entire car was desolate; it even appeared to be devoid of any personal affects and looked pristine as if a car lot had just dropped it off in front of her house.

But that was the least of Regina's concerns. She wanted to know who this car's owner was – and more importantly, where they were. She did a quick once-over of her property by the time Emma popped out of the Benz to join her with the groceries, a frown creasing her face.

"I hope they didn't break into the house." The blonde voiced Regina's worries, her emerald eyes shifting toward the estate as if it were on fire. "We'd have to open a hefty can of whoop-ass on the intruder. I'm sure we can take him down… unless there's more than just one."

"Do _not_ say that…" Regina's voice suddenly dropped to a mere whisper, her person slowly gravitating closer to Emma, a motion of both wanting to protect and be protected.

"There's no one in-" But the brunette's words were cut short when the front door to the manor opened with a small form behind it. Immediately, Regina could feel her blood run cold.

Because that was her mother standing there, giving her a disappointed look.

The older woman was surrounded by an aura of cool. Sinister was the smile on her face as Cora made her way out of the house as if she landed no fault in being there. The lawyer glided like a queen to her daughter, head held high and dark eyes burning.

"Regina, darling, it's lovely to see you again."

The former teacher didn't respond, instead she remained silent, watching her mother through careful eyes. Emma tensed in her spot, her own emerald orbs burning.

"Have you not anything to say? That is no way to greet the woman that had given you life." Cora _tsk_ ed, head shaking when she finally closed the distance between the three of them.

"What are you doing here, Mother? I thought you disowned me, or is that just another one of your games?" The hesitant brunette finally spoke, her arms crossing coolly over her chest.

"Oh, but darling, you will _always_ be my daughter. You are the fruit of my womb, are you not?"

"You have no business being here, Mother. _Leave_." Regina snarled, lip curling as she moved toward the front door. Emma followed soon behind her, paper bags in her arms.

"I am hurt, my daughter. Why would you say such cruel things to me?" Cora didn't relent as she merely trailed behind the two of them into the house, and straight to the kitchen.

Regina turned behind Emma to stop her mother, growling her words. "Have I not told you to leave? What is it that you want? Haven't you destroyed everything already?"

"Clearly not if you still plan to move." Cora eyed the boxes stacked up in the corners of the kitchen, a perfect brow arched. "You have done quite a bit with the place since the last time I was here, dear."

"What do you want, Mother?" Regina sighed, repeating the question as she turned to help Emma put the groceries away. "I haven't any time for this."

"Regina Mills, look at me when I am speaking to you." Cora frowned with disappointment, merely standing there with her threat clinging in the air. Regina shot her a rebellious look before going back to what she had been doing.

"I am a grown woman." She shooed Emma from the fridge. "Why don't you go see if we have missed anything, dear?"

"But I did that last-"

" _Please_." Regina gave her a stern look that held no further argument. Emma nodded quickly and scurried from the kitchen, leaving mother and daughter alone.

Relaxing slightly now that Emma had left them alone, Regina turned to look at her mother. "Answer me, Mother. Stop dancing around the subject."

"I thought to stop by before you make the big move, Regina."

"No, you didn't." Regina leaned back against the counter, hands gripping the edges.

"Oh, but I did. Life is too short to hold petty grudges and leave loose ends dancing around. It is much, much simpler to tie them up." Cora stepped toward her daughter, standing dangerously close to the woman. "I am dying, my daughter. Wouldn't you prefer to spend the last of my days happily? I know I would. I only have one daughter, after all, and that daughter is you."

"What about Zelena, Mother?" Regina hissed, trying so hard not to let those words get to her. She pushed the woman away from her to head across the room. "I know of you two and your _schemes_. Zelena came here herself to tell me."

"Oh, dear. Had she now?" Cora frowned slightly, though it was all too fake as if she had expected it. "I always knew that girl was weak. That was why I got rid of her."

"Bullshit, Cora. Just leave my house."

"Need I remind you, this is _my_ house." The older brunette trailed behind her daughter, roughly grabbing her arm to force the younger brunette to turn around.

Regina jerked her arm away, taking a step back. "Then keep your house, Mother. I don't give a damn, frankly. I'm _leaving_."

"I do not care about the house, darling." She sighed, the upside-down curve of her lips merely deepened at the younger woman's reaction.

"You sure as hell are making a big deal over it, now, aren't you?" The former teacher narrowed her eyes, warily watching her mother take a step toward her.

"I want _you_ , Regina. That is why I made the endeavor to come here. I wanted to see you… Make it all up to you." Cora frowned, a soft sigh falling from her lips. "I know that I haven't been the best mother, my love. But I do try my hardest to be all that I can for you."

Regina's brows furrowed at her mother's words.

"Darling, do not be hesitant. You know mommy means best." Cora extended a hand, reaching to caress her daughter's cheek.

But Regina rejected it this time, dodging away from the hand that tried to feed her. She flinched when it came back, readying herself for the slap to come, but it never did.

"How dare you turn your back on me, Regina? I have done nothing but love you and this is how you repay me?" The lawyer hissed, grabbing her daughter's jaw before the brunette could escape the room.

" _This_ , Mother. _This_ is why I reject you and should have so long ago. Why I had survived this long putting up with the torture you put me through, I will never know." Regina latched onto her mother's wrist, attempting to pull it from its painful grip.

Cora's head tilted, eyes sparkling with hurt. "Is that what you really think?"

"You abuse me, Mother. _You abuse me and I am tired of it_."

"Bullshit!" The profanity left her mother's mouth with a painful jerk of the olive woman's chin, a hand drawing once again to her cheek.

And that's when a third party's voice shouted angrily from the doorway saving the slap for another day, which had left Regina's heart to fall into the pits of her stomach.

" _Stop_!" Emma was on Cora before Regina could mutter out a protest.

But when the shock had released the brunette teacher back into reality, she was screaming at the two who wrestled around her to stop. It was a futile attempt as they merely continued, Emma knocking Cora back against the counter, only to be reciprocated against the fridge as the brunette pinned her down.

"You have no business butting into our conversation, _Emma_." Cora hissed, tightening her grip on the blonde's upper arms to swing the two of them away from the refrigerator.

"I may not have any business with your conversation, but I won't stand by and let you abuse Regina like that, either." Emma's voice was nothing but a deep growl. She attempted to shake the brunette lawyer off her to no avail as she merely swung the duo around the kitchen with Regina still squawking at the two, attempting to follow them around so she could pry her mother away.

"You're just a child, Emma, darling. You do not understand what we adults are doing."

"Like hell I do! I may be young, but I'm not stupid. It's bullshit that you keep doing this to her. I am _sick_ of it. She is a grown _fucking_ woman!" The blonde's words had earned a sharp gasp from Regina's mother, who had immediately pushed the younger woman to the ground.

Emma stared, dazed, up at the oldest woman who merely _tsk_ ed at her.

"How clumsy you are, blonde. Both physically and mentally." A wicked look ghosted across her features, but had been quickly replaced when her daughter had grabbed a hold of her.

"Stop this, Mother."

"Why on earth should I? This insolent blonde has gotten in the way of our relationship more than once, my dear daughter. She is better off… _gone_." Cora's wicked gaze returned, threatening the blonde in her spot. "Isn't that right?"

"You can take that nice car of yours and drive off a bridge for all I care." Emma muttered, shifting to stand only to be pushed back down by a violent heel. This had caused her to hit the ground hard, face smacking unpleasantly against the tiled floors. "Ah, _fuck!_ "

"Such profanity." Cora smirked her victory at the warm, crimson drops that fell from the young woman's nose.

"That is _enough_ , Mother! I want you out of my _house_ and out of my _life_." Regina hissed the familiar words. She had said them so many times, she didn't know whether they had any effect anymore.

Her question was answered when Cora turned to look up at her, a simple smile on her face. "Oh, darling, you don't mean that." She cooed, reaching up to caress her daughter's cheek, heated with rage.

"Don't _touch_ me!" She shooed her mother's hand away, taking a step back with dark eyes on the blonde who held her nose on the floor, watching the scene as if she were prepared to strike at any given moment.

"Don't be that way, darling. You reject me because of _her_." Again, Cora's gaze fell to the blonde, her lip curling in disgust. " _She's_ the reason why you have picked up and changed your mundane lifestyle. Things were perfect the way they were before this… _brat_ came along."

"Excuse the fuck out of me?" Emma angrily queried from her spot, eyes like molten lava. "You're only pissed because you don't have control over her. You're realizing that she's a person who can make her own decisions and doesn't need her mother's help anymore. News flash, you crazy old bat."

" _Oh_ , you believe that you can get away with playing _that_ game, Emma?" That voice was cold, and deadly so.

Emma would have shit herself if she didn't feel so constipated with the terrified anger consuming her. Cora squat down next to the blonde, who still resided on the floor with her bruising and bloodied nose.

A smirk that could have resembled an evil witch's spread wide across her lips. "You see, I wasn't going to resort to this… final plan, here. Shall I call it plan D? Oh, does it honestly matter?"

"What… What plan are you talking about?" Emma swallowed thickly, pressing herself up against the counter.

" _Mother_ … Get away from her." Regina's warning voice sounded, but went ignored by the eldest woman as she merely continued to stare soullessly into Emma's eyes.

"Not now, my love. I am having a conversation with your… _lover_." Her gaze never broke, even as she had addressed her daughter. "Now, where was I? Oh, yes. My last resort. You see, you couldn't have just merrily played along and left us alone, now, could you? I was truly hoping that you would not be so insolent, but alas…"

Clucking, the older woman stood, leaving a terrified blonde on the floor. "I must do this. For the sake of us all."

"D-Do what? Cora?"

"Mother, what are you doing?" Regina frowned, eyes widening as the brunette lawyer fished for something in her small handbag. The younger brunette took a step back, eyes widening as she noticed a black metallic object in the shape of a dangerous weapon get plucked from the bag.

Emma squeaked on the floor, scrambling to get away from Cora until that very object was pointed at her, freezing the blonde as if it had controlled the young woman.

"Don't do anything stupid, Cora." Her shell-shocked voice echoed in the tiled room.

"Oh, I would never be as absent-minded as you are, my young friend." The grin that curled on her lips was almost insane, but remained griped with reality.

"Gina..." Emma warily chanced a glance to her partner, eyes grasping desperately onto her soul.

 _Oh, God, please call David._ She pleaded silently, hoping that Regina was reading the terrified plea.

She must have known. She had to have known.

Regina slipped from the room after an intense moment, though Emma could still see here right outside. Though, that had left Emma with Cora. Cora who had a gun. And that gun was pointing at her face.

The blonde could see images of her life flash before her. It was strange, the feeling of it happening as she was so close to death. Her life could be gone at any moment and she had a lot to do with it. She was only eighteen and she still had a full life ahead of her. But that was looking grim with the way the crazed woman in front of her swung that gun around with every threatening word.

Emma's heart pounded heavily in her chest. Her breath was running low. The perspiration on her forehead seemed to slide greedily down her face. This wasn't how she had imagined the end to be. Her girlfriend's psycho mother coming in to take her life because she was selfish and wanted her daughter all to herself. This was some fucked-up television shit happening. Since when did her boring, mundane life become so intense and interesting?

She would laugh right now if that piece of metal wasn't so close to her face.

"I have _dreamed_ of doing this since the very first day that I ever found out about you." Cora hissed, pressing the front of the weapon to her forehead. "Now you wish you would have just left her when I suggested, don't you? You wouldn't be in this situation. You could be happy. Be with your little diseased flock of homosexual people instead of keeping my daughter on your hell-bound side."

"You're _fucked_ up; you know that?" Emma retorted. Why the hell did she do that? This woman had a gun. And the butt of that gun was used to smack her across the face with a painful crack.

" _Shit_." The blonde moaned, grabbing her jaw.

"You could have had a… _happy_ life, little girl. But you ruined it for yourself. You ruined it for Regina, as well. You ruined it for _me_." Cora inspected the gun, making a click of disgust at something she had spotted on it. She shoved the object in Emma's face to point out a small spot of blood that the blonde could barely make out through her blurry gaze. "See what you do, you stupd girl? You ruin everything good."

" _You_ do that for yourself. You didn't have to hit me with your toy." The blonde braved, dropping her crimson-covered hand into her lap. "Like you didn't have to do anything to Regina."

"Oh, but dear, you simply do not understand." The brunette spoke as if she were talking to a small child, each word enunciated. "But, that does not seem to matter any longer. With you out of the picture, I have nothing else to worry about. Isn't that right, my dear daughter?"

But when Cora had looked back to hear a response from her daughter, she was met with silence and an empty room. "Regina?"

"What?" Regina entered the kitchen, looking satisfied with herself. "Are you done playing your games with Emma? Are you going to release my girlfriend, now?"

"What makes you think that I would do something like that, now?" Cora quirked a brow, arms crossing over her chest.

"I don't, Mother. Honestly." Regina stepped toward her, eyes focused on the weapon that she had held. But that weapon had moved and pointed right at Emma's face once again, freezing the brunette teacher in her spot. " _Mother_. Don't you _dare_."

"Oh, but why not?" Cora quirked a brow, not relenting as she continued to watch her daughter's wary gaze. "With her gone, we could finally be together and I could find you a proper man."

"If you… if you… do that, I would sooner take a bullet in my brain before living under your control, Cora." Regina stumbled over her words, tears gathering quickly in her eyes.

"Is… Is it really that bad, my love? You would rather be dead than have your own mother?" Cora frowned at this, faltering her threatening arm for a moment as she contemplated her daughter's words.

"Yes! Why would I _ever_ want to live with the abuse and the manipulation that you feed me?" Regina dared a few steps toward her mother, eyes falling to the blonde who remained on the floor with a bruised and bloodied face. Her heart fell at the sight, and in that moment, she was ready to pounce on her mother.

If not for the gun that was aimed steadily at Emma once again. "Make one more step and I paint the kitchen with your dyke's brains."

"Mother-"

"Cora Mills, _drop_ the gun." A masculine voice demanded from the doorway.

Emma couldn't have been any more relieved to hear her father's voice. She drew her attention away from Cora to look to the savior of the evening, who stood with his own gun steadied at the lawyer.

"I really wished I wasn't forced to do this." Cora seemed to sigh as she cocked the gun in her hand.

A deafening ring sounded in the room as a gunshot fired.

Regina's heart seemed to collapse, her vision becoming dark as everything played in slow motion. Panicked eyes flew between the three in the room, two standing, the third still on the ground. David stood, blanched, as he realized what the hell just happened. The gun in his hand clattered to the ground as he rushed forward toward the blonde still propped up against the counter.

The brunette's eyes wandered toward her mother who stood there with a devious smirk, the weapon in her hand falling to the ground as well.

"I certainly do hope that you enjoy your new life, my love. There is no going back."

Regina watched as the finality of the words left her mother's mouth before the woman dropped to her knees. A look of terror bloomed in her eyes as she crumpled against the ground with labored breaths.

The brunette teacher's eyes welled as she dove forward to join her mother on the floor, holding the woman in her arms and attempted to add pressure to the wound on her torso.

"Regina, darling." She stared up the woman who held her, frowning slightly at the way the tears seemed to slide easily down her cheeks. "Why do you cry for me?"

"Because you're my mother." Regina's voice cracked.

The brunette had always imagined rejoicing in her mother's death. She had dreamed of it time and time again, jovial of each time that it had flittered through her mind. But the reality of it was quite gripping. She hadn't thought losing her mother would be this painful. Not when it was real.

Because when it was in her fantasy, her mother would always still be there. She would be there, living and breathing, smiling and laughing. Nice or not. She was still there.

But the reality was different now. She wasn't a fantasy. She wasn't dying for the tenth time in one day, no, not anymore. She was dying in real life, and it was terrifying.

Regina could _see_ the life start to diminish from her mother as the blood that once gave her life drained from her body and onto the kitchen floor. It smelled sickening, like copper and death. Her once lively body was growing colder and pale, devoid of the life it had.

"Oh, Mother. Why did you do this to yourself?" Regina closed her eyes, holding the smaller brunette closer to her.

"Because I love you, Regina. Everything that I do… I do because I love you." Cora breathed, the words seeming to strain the older woman. "I-I'm sorry that I was never the mother that you wanted me to be."

"Please… don't talk." The younger brunette sniffed, trying to preserve her mother's fading life. "You need your energy."

"No. I don't. I-I'm dying, Regina. And I would rather tell you… what I have on my… mind rather than… leave this world without confessing." Cora tried to offer a smile to her daughter, though it was hard to keep on her face as she brought an unsteady hand to her face instead. "I have tried so hard to change you, Regina. And it was wrong of me. A-As your mother, I should have accepted who you were, but for some reason I thought you were sick…. A-And I had this image of who you should have been in my mind.

"I tried to force something that you didn't want on you, my daughter, and I cannot express how apologetic I am… If I could go back, I would embrace you instead of throw you out. I would accept that you love this fine, young woman instead of… o-of trying to break you two apart. Sh-she really does make you happy, doesn't she?"

"As anyone could have, mama. I love her more than I could have ever fathomed. I wished you would have given her a chance… B-But why are you saying this now?" The brunette fretted, many more questions rising to the forefront of her mind. Was she telling the truth? Or was this just another bait piece to reel Regina in onto her good side before she passed on?

"I should have, my darling." Cora frowned, her eyes batting slightly as she battled to stay conscious. "I can see it; you know?"

"What?" Regina panicked slightly, tapping her mother's cheek to keep her from slipping.

"I can see the way you look at her. That's something special." The lawyer reached up, hand shaking as she attempted to stroke her daughter's cheek. "I was jealous. I-I was jealous of you. I have always dreamed of a true, strong love like you have. I-I'm glad that you found it."

"Me too…" Regina smiled softly, gazing up to the blonde. Emma returned the smile as she leaned heavily into her father.

"Re-Regina, darling," the eldest brunette spoke from her spot, her voice becoming alarmingly weak. "In my purse is everything. The keys to my condo in New York City and to the corvette. A-and the other cars. I want you to have them."

" _Mama_ …"

"You're the only one in my will, my love. It's all yours…" She smiled weakly, leaning up to kiss her daughter's cheek. "Just remember that I love you, and I always have."

"I love you, too, _mama_ …" Regina squeaked softly, holding her mother a little tighter. But she was fading, her body becoming heavy as it lay in her daughter's arms. The brunette teacher frowned when her mother gave her one last smile, the sparkling light in her eyes seeming to fade out into a dark void.

And then she was still. The last breath escaped her as happy as it could have been. Regina's eyes widened as the reality sunk in further. Her mother was dead.

 _Dead_.

" _Mama_?" Regina futilely tried to shake that woman awake, even though she knew that she was already gone. But she couldn't dare believe this woman, who had both loved and tortured her, was gone. Life without the worried thoughts of Cora would seem almost strange. It was a hole in her life at this point.

What would she do?

"Regina, she's gone." David kindly whispered, even though he knew that she knew it. But that hadn't stopped her from holding that damned woman closer to her, shedding tears that should have never been dealt.

"Gina…" Emma attempted to move to comfort the older woman over her loss, but David had held her back.

"You _killed_ her! You killed my mother!" Regina didn't give a hesitant thought as she gently urged her mother from her lap and launched toward David who had quickly dodged her attempted attack. "You murderer!"

" _Regina_!" David picked himself up with his hands up in surrender. "Regina, calm down."

"Don't you tell me to calm down!" The brunette was _furious_ as she screamed her pain at the man with wide eye.

Emma didn't know whether to stop her girlfriend from beating the shit out of her father or just stay out of it. She wouldn't do anything crazy, would she? Oh, gods, she hoped not. Because there was a dead body on the floor in front of her with a large puddle of blood that was slowly moving toward her and she felt as if she couldn't move. She was in a state of shock as she watched Regina scream profanities at David, most of them seeming to be in another language.

 _Spanish_? Since when did Regina speak Spanish?

"Please, _Regina_." The sheriff's deep voice echoed as he allowed the former teacher to back him up against the far kitchen wall. "Don't do anything you might regret."

"What the hell could I do?" Regina hissed with her hands balled up in fists as if she were ready to strike, but the expression on her face told otherwise. Aside from the extreme anger burning holes in her eyes, she had a deep sorrow welling on the surface. That hadn't stopped the beating of her fists striking weakly against his chest to vent whatever emotion she had built up.

"Regina, listen to me. I had no choice." David seized the brunette's wrists, forcing her to cease her futile attempts. She struggled for but a moment before giving in, too exhausted to fight for her freedom.

"You didn't have to shoot her." Her voice had weakened.

"Listen to me, Regina." He repeated. "If I didn't do that, it would be Emma dead on that floor. Would you have rather had her be dead?"

Regina remained silent, blurry gaze on the ground while she battled her emotions to keep from crying. But it didn't happen as she thought of what he said, because it was true. If he hadn't shot her mother, Cora would have killed Emma. That sweet, blonde girl who sat helpless on the floor in a situation she should have never been in.

"Regina?"

"No!" She sobbed, her entire body shaking as it racked over her.

But she didn't have to think about that because Emma was alive. She was breathing. She was still here.

That hadn't stopped the tears from coming. They were tears for her mother and the pain that she had enforced to her throughout her life, and they were tears of anger and all that the woman had put her through. The arms around her weren't familiar and felt far too odd, too strong and masculine. But she didn't reject them. They were something comforting. They kept her in place when all she wanted to do was run away.

"Regina… I know that you may _never_ forgive me for this and I expect that…." David began, a hand rubbing her back in soothing circles. "I-I didn't want to do this. I really didn't… I haven't…" He choked, and when he did, it hit Regina like a brick. He had taken someone's life. He was only trying to save his own daughter's life. Cora was in the way. She was the risk. And now she was dead by his hand.

There was a third pair of arms that wrapped around the two of them, warm and familiar to Regina as she recognized it to be Emma. The blonde still smelled of her sweet bath soap, yet contained the metallic scent of blood that had her stomach churning.

"I'm so sorry…" Emma's words were strained. "It's all my fault, isn't it?"

"No. No…" Regina frowned at the blonde's words, her hoarse voice was a whisper. She reached up to gently stroke her partner's pale cheek after turning slightly away from David, awkwardly since she was sandwiched between the two. "None of this is your fault, my swan. If it's anyone's, it's mine. I should have never let her in my house."

But the blonde's eyes welled with fresh tears, her head shaking. "It's mine…"

"Emma, honey, no it isn't." That was David reassuring his daughter, a gentle hand sliding through her blonde locks. "None of this is anyone's fault. Everything happened through a fault in the system and didn't end out the way we expected."

"What system?" Emma's brows narrowed, but Regina shook her head.

"There is no system. Cora brought this upon herself." The brunette woman stepped away from the two and turned toward the deceased lawyer on the floor, cringing at the sight. Inhaling deeply, Regina made her way to her mother with a shaky breath. "We need to… to call someone. An ambulance. Please…."

"Uh, yes, of course. I was going to do that." David nodded from his corner and pulled his phone out to do just that.

Emma, on the other hand, stood next to him with her eyes on Regina and Cora. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't bring herself to look away. She had seen some crazy shit in her day, but she'd have to say this was her first time seeing a dead body.

It wasn't like anything she had ever seen before. Cora looked the same, save for the blood and being a bit paler than usual. Okay, she was _a lot_ paler. Shuddering, the blonde quickly averted her gaze. It seemed surreal, but too real at the same time.

"Alright, an ambulance is on the way. I explained the situation somewhat. Since I'm the police, I'll be filling out a report on…" But he trailed off, realizing his words were just a futile filler.

"Can I be alone until they come, please?" Regina quietly asked, not lifting her head from the spot in which she remained. She was sitting on her legs, her mother on the floor in front of her, rearranged into a more peaceful position. The younger brunette was mostly covered in blood by now, though she didn't seem to mind. She looked completely numb.

"Will you be alright, Gina?" Emma quietly asked once her father left, pausing in the doorway.

Regina remained silence, leaving Emma to take that as a part of the older woman's desire to be left alone. Out of respect, she turned to leave only to be stopped by the soft voice of her lover.

"I'm not alright currently, but I will be." When the blonde turned back around, she was met with the brunette's dull, brown eyes. "You know, Emma?"

"Hm, yes?"

"I…" She trailed off, frowning slightly before merely shaking her head and dropping it back down. "Never mind."

"O-Oh, alright…" The blonde frowned herself, not pressing for an answer as she took a step back. "I'll leave you alone, okay?"

"Before you go, Emma," Regina spoke up once again, pushing herself up from the floor. When the blonde turned around this time, she felt an uneasiness settle in the pit of her stomach. Dear Gods that was a lot of blood.

"Yes?"

"I… uh…" She slowly walked toward the blonde, eyes slightly to the ground. "I want to apologize that you had to witness all of this. Baby, I am so sorry that you had to… Th-that you-" But the words got lost when the tears choked them from her, freezing the older woman in her spot.

"Regina…" Emma frowned at the conflicted woman, rushing toward her to engulf the older woman in her arms. "It's okay…"

"You shouldn't have had to go through this… You never signed up for this bull-"

"Maybe not, but I got you, didn't I? It's worth it." Emma reassured, squeezing the older woman tighter in her arms. Her body shuddered through the blonde's own. "And we'll survive through this. I'll be right here for you, and you here for me."

"Emma…" The brunette inhaled, breath shaky as she lay her head against her lover's shoulder. "You're too sweet."

The blonde shrugged slightly, resting her chin atop the older woman's head. The two of them stood there, holding each other close as if they were the last two people on earth. What else was there to hold onto when everything else had fallen so long ago?

And the blonde had, and greedily so. Regina was her sturdy rock on the unstable cliff. She was reliable. She would save her. Emma hoped that she would be able to be the same for the brunette, because if not, what was she worth?

"Hey, the ambulance is here." David interrupted the two of them, stopping in the doorway with a grim expression.

"Thank you, David." Regina lifted her gaze to the man in the doorway, giving him a slight nod before pulling away from Emma. "Could you let them in, please?"

"Of course." He quickly nodded before heading back off once again, leaving the two alone.

"Regina?" Emma paused before the brunette woman could head off, the reality of the situation still on the surface of her mind.

"Yes, dear?" She tilted her head with a frown, or had that frown been there?

Emma frowned herself, hesitant on her next words. "Do… Do you want to stay here for a while longer?"

"What do you mean, dear?" Regina quirked a brow, moving toward the island. "Are you speaking of tonight, or?"

"Do you still want to go ahead and move to Boston tomorrow? After what happened tonight." She looked to her hands for a moment, the words awkwardly spilling from her mouth.

"Honestly, Emma?"

"Yeah?"

"I want to get the hell out of here. I would leave tonight, but… I've got cleaning up to do." The brunette sighed softly, eyes faltering. "And… damned if I don't need a drink."

"Your special apple cider?" Emma tilted her head, reaching out to gather up one of the older woman's hands. She nodded quietly in response, olive fingers lacing with the ivory ones.

"These next few days are going to be long." Regina finally responded, eyes on the paramedics as they rushed in to gather her mother up on the gurney.

Long, stressful, and painful days they would be.


	30. The Last Day

It was better in the morning. Everything didn't seem like it would be long nor stressful. Though the pain still had a planted seed within her heart, ever growing and ever tightening. But waking up to a new dawn meant a new day. A new day that would urge time forward and leave tomorrow in the past.

Though waking up to this new day felt as if nothing had ever changed. Regina opened her eyes believing that she hadn't been on her hands and knees in the kitchen last night, cleansing every crack from the tiles of the coagulated blood that stuck to them. For all that she knew that ruthless woman was still alive and planning on hunting her down in Boston to rip apart the new life she was planning to create.

"Regina?" Emma's quiet whisper sounded from beside the older woman. "You up?"

"Yes," she replied quietly, rolling over to face the blonde woman next to her, and it wasn't until then that she had realized how _exhausted_ she felt. And she pondered for a moment to figure out the reason why. Then it hit her. Whatever she had believed to be a previous dream was reality.

"Are you going to be alright?" The blonde queried, immediately noticing the sudden change in expression on the older woman's face.

Regina merely nodded in response, a sigh falling from her lips.

"Okay…" Emma nodded herself, her arms wrapping tightly around the brunette woman to pull her closer.

A faint smile ghosted across Regina's features, mocha eyes gazing up to the younger woman that held her. "I said what I meant last night, Emma," she murmured softly and snuggled into the warmth. "I want to get out of this house. It's… I don't think I can stay here any longer after what had happened."

"But you _will_ be alright to move? I mean… David, Ruby, Belle, and I can just do the moving stuff. And Killian if he's coming to help. You don't have to do anything. You can be the director." She offered a sweet smile to the older woman, though it was gently rejected with a slight shake of her head.

"I will be alright, honey." The brunette offered a grin of her own. "Right now, I can't feel much of anything. I spent my tears last night for that woman and I have no more to cash in."

"I'm only concerned for your health, Gina…" Emma wrapped a leg around the older woman and kissed the top of her head. "She was your mother, after all."

"I would rather not dwell on it."

"Of course." The blonde nodded slightly, a sigh falling from her lips. "To get off the subject, then, when would you like to start our glorious day?"

"In a few minutes you can call the volunteers… or people you bribed, what have you." Regina tried for a smile which had immediately earned another in response. Her body relaxed finally after being tense for so long, allowing her to melt against the mattress and _breathe_.

"Good, because I like staying in bed with you."

The brunette hummed softly at those words and nodded, taking them to heart.

"Starting off the day like this is…" Regina frowned slightly, not quite being able to place the word that she had intended to describe it as.

"Motivating?" Emma offered as she combed her fingers through dark, raven locks.

"Exactly."

This had seemed to baffle the blonde and stopped the little combs that she made through her lover's hair. "How?"

"It's… like a bath, shall I say. It's soothing and calms your nerves. And…" She shrugged slightly, pushing herself up against the headboard with a sigh. "It makes me forget about things, for at least a little while and remember larger things that need to be done."

"… weirdo." The little blonde joked as she moved up with the older woman, flipping the covers away. Unfortunately, that had brought an unwanted draft of air when the warmth was released and stripped them of the heat that had gathered.

Emma shivered from the sudden lack of heat, allowing for it to infuse within her as a better wake-up call.

"Aren't you the nice one this morning?" Regina light heartedly chimed, flicking a piece of the blonde's hair from her shoulder.

"But you love me anyways?" Emma offered an innocent smile. "Right?"

This had earned a smirk from the brunette, her fingers soon attaching themselves to the blonde's sides in a frenzy attempt to tickle the hell out of her. Emma squealed in response and squirmed desperately to get away from those taunting fingers but Regina wasn't having it.

" _Stop_ , please!" Emma half laughed, half cried, the sensation was overwhelming. Her stomach hurt from laughing and her sides felt so unpleasantly tingly when the brunette refused to obey. Instead of flapping at her to stop, she attempted to crawl away from those crazy little fingers but that was proven to be futile.

Regina, laughing at her lover's expense, finally ceased her torturous tickles to wrap her arms tightly around young woman before her. And she didn't let go.

"I do," she breathed, chin resting on top of Emma's head.

"You do what?" The blonde puffed out a breath of air, trying to regain what was lost from her lungs as she pondered over what the other woman had meant.

"I do love you, even if you are the not-so-nice one this morning." The brunette answered and dropped her head next to Emma's, turning her head to give the latter a kiss on the cheek.

" _Oh_ , well, that's good to know."

Emma smiled at the sweet gesture and leaned back in the brunette's arms. Perhaps she really _did_ get what Regina had meant by saying snuggling in bed was equal to soaking in a hot bath. It was relaxing, lying here with the woman in which she shared it with. It was much like the bath, anyhow, sans the water and soaps. The blankets were warm, and if even not, Regina was herself. They had each other to keep warm and shielded from the cold, and _that_ made the blonde smile even wider.

She wondered what the next bedroom would be like at the apartment they were moving to. Would it be as big? Bigger? Or much smaller, cozier than this? Was there going to be a bathroom attached to it? Those questions still burned in the blonde's brain and even more now. They were moving there _today_.

"Penny for your thoughts?" The brunette's familiar voice rang through Emma's ears and she smiled.

"I was just thinking this is going to be the last day we spend in this room together." The blonde shifted to make contact with the raven-haired woman who had ran a gentle finger over her cheek.

"It'll be strange. I haven't lived anywhere else in a while." Regina furrowed her brows for a moment, her finger sliding back down to hook under her girlfriend's chin. "But let's think of it as a new life where we can create new memories. Fresh memories."

"And we won't have to hide anymore." Emma's words were a mere purr from her mouth, her head turning the way it was urged by that digit. Warm, brown eyes met soft, green instantly, a sudden emotion washing over the blonde.

"That's true, my love." The brunette murmured, leaning in to press a sweet little kiss to the point of the younger woman's nose. "Even though I am quite sure about half the town is aware by now."

"Ah, who cares? We're leaving." Emma giggled softly, nose crinkling up cutely. "Meanwhile, Mary Margaret will remain in the dark forever."

Regina shifted onto her side with a quirk of her brow, fingers now sliding silkily down the blonde's side as if she were tracing the contour of her body. "That woman will find out eventually, even if that means we have to tell her."

"Okay…" Emma huffed softly and pushed herself up. "But I say we wait at least six months to a year after we move, okay?"

"Six months to a year?" The former teacher's eyes bugled as she gave Emma the look that told her the secret must be spilled earlier than that. "Emma Swan, no."

"Okay… okay… Maybe as we're driving away. I mean, come on." Emma giggled softly, earning another headshake this time.

"While I do understand your hesitance, you may not postpone telling her for a long period of time nor may you indirectly reveal our relationship and run off." Regina _tsk_ ed, cheek pressing against the side of Emma's head. "I am not saying we have to tell her _soon_ , but let's not put it off for too long. Your father already knows about us and I'm quite sure it will be about time that he will tell your mother as well."

"Yeah…" Emma frowned slightly. "I guess it's been… enough time from graduation, right? Or is it too soon to tell her?"

Regina merely shrugged in response to the questions and, instead, shifted away to get herself out of bed. The brunette slid off the mattress with a yawn, arms stretching high in the air before she turned to the blonde still curled up in the middle. "You will be the judge of that, Emma. You know Mary Margaret more than I do."

"Yeah… You're right." The blonde muttered. "I'll just see what David says. He'll know if she's ready."

"And you may do just that when you call him up to come over." Regina's response was from with the closet as she ravaged through the bag of her clothes on the floor for an outfit. "You'll be doing that now, correct?"

"Yeah!" Emma chuckled, struggling for her cellphone to contact their little helpers.

"Oh, and don't forget to ask him about your personal documents. You need those." She called from across the room, head lifted with narrowed eyes on the blonde.

"I know, Gina. I know…"

Emma chuckled softly and made the first dial to her best friends, who no doubt would be pissed that they had to get up this early to do physical labor. When the line picked up, they shared a small banter before Ruby had agreed to drag Belle to the house in about fifteen minutes. The next dial was for Killian who had agreed to help as an extra pair of "manly" muscles to lift the heavier boxes and furniture. Emma would have laughed if his help were not crucial to get an early start on the day.

The last call was to David, lasting slightly longer than the others as she asked Regina's question. The poor sheriff was hesitant about coming over after the events that had happened. He felt too guilty for what he had done and Emma could hear the exhaustion in his voice. She was about to just tell him to stay home when he insisted they need the help and agreed to come over.

Besides, he _did_ have the copies of Emma's important identifying documents. Apparently, he and Mary Margaret had requested the information from the agency in which they worked through to foster Emma into their care.

"Oh, well, that's perfect!" Emma smiled against the cellular device, pacing the room in her underwear as she tried to search for the jeans she had laid out the night before. "No wonder why you never panicked about my license. I mean, aside from the natural parent thing."

" _We wanted to be prepared for everything. Anyways, we needed them to enroll you into school_." David chuckled. " _I'll make sure to bring them over. They're yours, after all. You're going to need them more than you did before."_

"Thanks, David." But it had come out crossly when she noticed the object she thought was her pants were merely a bunched-up blanket.

" _Are you alright?"_ He asked hesitantly.

"No, I can't find my fuck-" Then Regina appeared in front of her with a smile and Emma's pair of jeans in her hand. "-ing jeans. Thanks. Uh, where the hell were they?"

"Where you left them, sweetheart." Regina chuckled softly, gesturing toward the bureau. "They must have gotten knocked down."

"Yeah…"

" _Did you find your jeans?_ " David's voice rang on the other side of the line, leaving Emma to nod.

"Yeah. Well, Regina did. They fell." She made a face. "Speaking of Regina, wanna talk to her for a second? I gotta get these on."

"Emma…" Regina stared at the phone that was getting shoved into her hands not a second after she said that. The brunette stood there for an awkward moment before pressing it up to her ear, giving a sheepish greeting to the man on the other line.

Emma laughed when the brunette started up an awkward conversation with her father, and by Regina's side of it, she gathered they were speaking about the weather. "As them there kids say, you're an awkward little turtle. You may return to your shell." The blonde teased her partner, reaching for the phone with a sweet little smile.

"I wouldn't speak, my dear." Regina crinkled her nose and handed the cell back to its owner.

"Hey, David. Sorry about that." Emma narrowed her eyes at the brunette, but for some reason she just stared right back at her.

" _It's alright, honey. I'll be over soon, alright? So, I'll be letting you go here._ "

"Yeah, of course." The blonde smiled slightly, warily watching the hand that approached her face. "I'll see you later. Okay… Bye-bye." By the time her phone was in her pocket, Regina was in her space with a tender hand on her cheek and a thumb grazing slightly over a nasty looking scar.

"It's better today." She whispered, hand dropping to her side. "I hadn't noticed it earlier, but it is."

Emma's heart rate climbed at this, a frown tugging at her lips. Regina looked sad, yet guilty, as if she had done it herself.

"Don't worry about it, Gina. It's alright. _I'm_ alright." She attempted to offer a reassuring smile and lifted both hands up to grab the older woman's face. "I will get your mind off it if that is necessary. We have about five minutes until our first batch of recruits show up."

"Emma…" Regina frowned, attempting to shake her head with no success.

The blonde gave her a stern look before leaning up to brush her lips against the soft, tempting ones in front of her. She hummed, pulling Regina's head closer when the latter had returned it with a breathless mewl. Before they could go in for another, Emma paused. "Will that help take your mind off things?"

"Mm… Maybe just one more kiss will do it." Regina grinned and brought a palm to lay flat against Emma's cheek. She went in for another kiss, this time it lasted. The brunette's arm snaked around her blonde lover's waist, reeling her in closer for a deeper, more passionate kiss.

Unfortunately, it was short-lived when the doorbell had interrupted them, forcing the two to pull away. Coy smiles and blushing cheeks followed them downstairs to answer the front door without a moment's hesitance. It was a good thing they were stopped before any more were to happen. They would never make it out of Storybrooke.

"Hey, Rubes!" Emma smiled upon opening the door, revealing her lanky friend and the shorter brunette who stood next to her with an excited smile. "Belle!"

"Girl, you got it good." Ruby immediately pushed the blonde aside as she headed into the foyer, eyes wide when she tried to swallow up everything in just the one room. "How come you never told me you lived in a frickin' mansion?"

"Ruby," Belle _tsk_ ed, following the waitress inside with an apologetic grin to both her former teacher and blonde friend. "I'm sorry. Sometimes I need to keep her on a leash."

"Looks like it." Emma giggled, shutting the door so she could watch the amazed Ruby walk around the packed-up house.

"How the hell can you afford this place? Teachers get paid shit." The brunette waitress turned toward the older woman who stood within the small group.

"It's my mother's house." Regina replied with a pained wince. "She purchased it for me."

"That's a really nice mom you have. Man, I wish mine would have bought me a mansion before she up and left." Ruby pouted slightly, disappearing off into the sitting room. "Look at this TV! Holy _shit_ , I could watch some porn on that."

"Ruby!" Belle was after her the other brunette within seconds, her voice sounding as if she were reprimanding a small child.

The blonde turned toward her brunette lover with a smirk, head slowly shaking. "This is why I never tell them anything."

"So they can run around our house in amazement?" Regina chuckled softly.

"They aren't used to something this big. I don't know what they were expecting, though, either…" Emma smirked and turned toward the front door, opening it up once again to check for the other two parties that they were waiting on.

"And David _did_ agree to drive the moving truck to Boston, correct?" Regina paced up behind the blonde in front of her, eyes on the large moving van parked in front of the house that they had picked up last night.

"Yeah. Just so long as we give him a ride back." Emma turned to look at the older woman, giving her a soft smile. "He said he wanted to help us unload it. Ruby and Belle agreed to it, too. They can drive up there, but I'm not sure if they'll stay."

"At least we wouldn't have to by ourselves. I don't mind bringing him back." The brunette sighed, leaning against the doorway. "If Ruby and Belle do wish to stay but do not have the proper funds to keep them out of a crappy motel, I will be more than willing to lend them the spare bedroom."

"Aw, you're too sweet." Emma giggled, turning around to wrap her arms around the former English teacher.

"I was just thinking logically, dear. David is welcome to stay and save his money, as well." She shrugged, eyes separating from the younger woman's gaze as she caught sight of something in front of her. Emma quickly released the brunette to see who the newest arrival was, blushing when she found it to be her father.

"Oh, hey, David."

"What is this about me you're talking about?" He quirked a brow, taking a step onto the porch. "I mean; I _did_ hear my name?"

"Yeah, Regina was just telling me that you could stay at the apartment if you wanted to stay overnight in Boston." The blonde elaborated as she followed said brunette inside the house.

"I wouldn't want to intrude on anything." David murmured, his eyes not meeting with the brunette's.

"You wouldn't be. There's a spare room... I'll go find Ruby and Belle so we can get started." Regina simply shrugged as she continued to walk, disappearing off into the house to find the girls that self-toured their way through.

"Uh, here's the papers." He frowned at the brunette's response, handing the yellow packet to his daughter. "Is she…"

"No." Emma quirked a brow, grabbing the documents. "She's anxious, is all."

"Anxious, huh?" David narrowed his eyes slightly as he slowly leaned in, inspecting something on the young woman's face.

Emma immediately responded, dodging his curious gaze with the sudden insecurity over the wound on her face. "What the hell are you doing?"

"What is that on your face?" He asked curiously, straightening back up as soon as he had noticed her discomfort.

She shrugged, eyes falling to the ground. "What does it look like?"

"Lipstick." His simple answer had Emma sputtering, eyes wide on the man's face.

"Guess who's here?" A voice rang through the still open front door. Emma was relieved when she saw Killian standing in the doorway to interrupt that awkward moment.

"Hi. Look who's here. Now we can start." Emma was quick to get away from her father and urged her male friend inside with a smile.

"Are you happy to see me, Swan?" The younger man smirked vainly, standing stark in the middle of the foyer. "So, eager to get me inside."

"No. Shut up." The blonde hissed at him, immediately regretting her excitement at the opportunity to get away from the previous subject with David.

But Killian still smirked at Emma, though his brows soon furrowed upon looking at her face. "What on earth happened to you, Swan?"

"Nothing!" She turned away, forearm immediately coming up to wipe away the remains of Regina's lipstick from her lips. This earned a shared look between the brunet man and her father, exchanging their confusion.

"Alright, are you boys ready?" Ruby marched into the room as if she owned the place, head held high while Belle simply walked beside her with Regina trailing behind.

"I found them," the brunette stated as she came into the room.

Emma smiled when she caught sight of the older woman and puppy-trailed over to her, a look similar to her trot. "Hi."

"Hello, my love." Regina returned the grin, something familiarly sweet, and moved to gather the younger woman into her arms. "Now, do not fret. I will compensate your work with lunch and beverages. You're welcome to the fridge whenever you wish."

"Yeah! We have sandwich stuff in there, some sodas and waters, and I made her pick up some pistachio salad." Emma beamed, leaning into the brunette.

"And I saw pie in there. Are we getting pie? Can we have pie, please?" Ruby gave her a wolfish grin, hands clasping together. " _Please_?"

"Of course, Ruby. And I also have fresh apples that you may help yourselves to." The brunette woman released her young lover and moved towards the front door. "I'll get the truck open if you would like to start grabbing things, preferably furniture."

"Aye, aye, captain." Killian saluted her before taking a step toward the sitting room where he saw bits of the furniture left. "You heard the lady, let's get our asses moving."

"Who died and made you boss?" Ruby scoffed behind him as she and Belle followed.

"What do you want me to grab?" David paused in the foyer, looking to his daughter for a moment. "Because I have no clue…"

"We're only bringing some of the furniture. That's what I know. She wants the stuff from the living room. Eh… The table, too, I think." Emma shrugged and headed off in the direction her three friends had left in. They'd figure out what the hell they were bringing eventually. The queen was currently out, but they would meanwhile follow the orders they were given and hopefully not screw it up.

Luckily, they hadn't throughout the day, bringing furniture and boxes out to pile into the large moving truck. Each cycled to take turns to organize the back of the truck, which ultimately gave them a break of sorts. By lunch, the group had over half the downstairs level cleared of its boxes. They rejoiced in taking a well-deserved break and feasted on the various (junk) foods that had been purchased the night before.

When the exceeded break hour was over, they went back to work and finished moving out the rest of the first level's items. Then started on the second with great haste to get the house finished. It hadn't taken nearly as long as the first, for only a few pieces of furniture and minimal boxes were taken down to the truck.

Regina had thought it a smarter idea the previous week to move most of the boxes downstairs to make it easier on everyone. And it really did make it easier, and far faster because they were done with the house by the late afternoon when the sun burned brightly in the sky.

Rejoice they did when the last box was stacked in the truck and the door was locked shut. The day had turned hot and dreary, leaving them often pausing inside to cool off. As they did now, all collapsed on the living room floor trying their damnedest to cool down.

"I am _melting!_ " Ruby dramatized, first to speak out of the six.

"I _know_." Emma concurred, rolling onto her stomach. She removed her shirt at some point to cool off, stripping down to the tank top that she had worn under it for that purpose. "If I melt away, somebody please catch me."

"I will!"

"Shut up, Killian." Ruby huffed, kicking the man beside her. "Leave her alone or Regina will stick one of her heels up your ass."

"And I just might." The brunette woman in subject piped up. She leaned against the wall with a miserable expression on her sweat-glistened face.

"No, you can't." Killian had to speak up, smirking over to the older woman. "Your shoes are packed in that truck."

"Oh, damn you."

"Why did we do this?" Belle whined from her spot, adding her two cents in. "It's the hottest day of the year and we moved boxes. I feel like my brain melted. All I will see is brown for the rest of my life. If we move, Ruby, we move in the winter."

"What the hell are you blabbering on about?" Ruby chuckled, wiggling closer to the brunette splayed face-first on the ground.

Regina chuckled softly, hands on her lap. "Oh, we aren't moving in the summer again, Emma. Never."

"I concur." Emma struggled on the ground, attempting to worm her way out of the jeans she wore. If only she could get those off, she would be much cooler.

"Emma, do keep your pants on, please." The older brunette watched her, giggling at the struggling teen.

"Oh, since when do you want me to do that?"

"Since we have no couch at the moment. Oh, and the company, of course."

" _Okay_ ," David coughed from his spot in the doorway. He was the only one that appeared to be unaffected by the heat the other five exhibited. His arms were crossed, his expression ready as if he were waiting to go somewhere. "If you want to be in Boston before dark, we must be on our way about… Oh, now?"

"Really?" Emma furrowed her brows before popping onto her hands and knees to stand. "Crap… What time is it?"

"I want to say it's close to four, but don't count on my word." He answered, arms dropping to his sides as the group protested in a collect groan while getting up from their spots. "Don't worry. You'll still be able to rest. Just not here."

"Yeah…" Ruby huffed. "I feel like a noodle. I don't want to do anymore."

"You won't have to until tomorrow." Emma smiled, heading toward Regina to collect the shirt she picked up. "I mean, if you're going to help still?"

"Yeah, probably. We'll hit the road up with you. But I _definitely_ want to change first." The lanky waitress smiled, looking down at her current attire of her white tank and red shorts. "I'm sweaty in all the wrong places. Maybe I'll shower…"

"Lucky. I wanna shower." Emma playfully puffed out her lip at her friend before hugging the brunette with a sigh. "Thank you for your help, though. I really appreciate it."

"No problem. If it's to get you the hell out of this small town." She teased, kissing the blonde's cheek before moving so the shorter brunette could get a hug from their blonde friend as well.

Belle smiled softly when she pulled from Emma, a sad look on her face. "I'll miss you when you're gone."

"You're coming with us."

"I know, but…" She shrugged, that smile slowly dissolving. "We won't be five minutes away from each other after that. It'll be more like five hours."

The blonde frowned, reaching up to tuck a piece of her friend's hair behind an ear. "We'll still be able to talk to each other. And see each other. You two can come down whenever you want and visit. I'll come see you, too! Gotta pick up my Bug at some point, you know?"

"Good." Belle smiled widely as she back away, much happier than she had been before. "Well, we oughta get going if we want showers before you leave."

"See you in a few, okay?" With a nod, the two left and Emma turned towards the last of her friends.

Killian stood with an awkward smile. "I guess I won't be able to help you since I can't get my ass there and back."

The blonde shrugged, offering him a friendly smile. "Hey, don't worry about it. Will you still be here when I come back to get my car?"

"Depends when that is." He chuckled, looking between David and Regina.

"Soon, I hope."

"I might be. I'm not sure, though. I'm heading to New York to move into the dorms towards the middle of the month." The brunet bit his lip, a frown suddenly creasing them. "Think you'll be able to visit by then?"

"What about you? How do you plan on getting places?" The blonde quirked a brow, but he merely shrugged.

"I'll figure it out."

"I hope so. Text me later, will you?" Emma smiled softly, holding her arms out for a hug. He looked baffled at the offer, but hadn't hesitated to accept it for he wrapped his arms tightly around her in a tight hug.

"I will." Releasing her, Killian took a step back. "I already miss you, Swan, goddammit. I don't want to piss these two off any more than I already am, though. Stalling is my thing, but I never seem to win that game."

"You better get your ass out of here before you get a heel up it." Emma joked, nudging his arm with her own. "But, seriously. Thanks for your help."

"Anytime." He nodded toward her before heading off to the foyer without another word.

The blonde sighed, looking between her father and Regina, ending on the latter. "Think we should quickly change?"

"I see no point to. We should wait until we reach Boston and shower at the apartment, unless you wish to lodge at a hotel for the night? It will be dark by the time we get settled into the apartment and we'll have nothing to sleep on." The brunette joined the two by the doorway, the question lingering in her eyes.

"I don't mind sleeping on a floor, but I don't want you to get too uncomfortable." Emma frowned, a hand floating to the older woman's lower back. "And what about everyone else?"

"I hadn't thought of that for some reason…" Regina rubbed the bridge of her nose, sighing heavily. "Perhaps we should swing by the store and grab a few comforters and pillows for the night."

"How about a B.Y.O.B.?" David quirked a brow, embedding himself into the conversation at hand to add his two cents. "Bring Your Own Blanket? And pillow."

"We could do that." Regina murmured, lifting her gaze to the third party. "Alright. Are you able to message your friends that? And, David, you could always run home to grab your items?"

"Yeah, I'll do that."

"One problem."

Emma and David responded, respectively.

It was David that had elaborated his problem when Regina gave him a horrified look. "I walked."

"Can't he drive the truck there, then?" Emma quirked a brow. "You can, right? Then we can just have Ruby and Belle meet us at the apartment."

The two of them nodded in concurrence to the blonde's suggestion, leading them to the conclusion that they should leave and do just that. David was out of the house first, leaving Regina and Emma behind to soak up their home one last time.

"I'll miss this house, surprising enough. I never thought I would." Regina spoke first, her voice cracking slightly. "It was never a home to me until you came along."

Emma smiled sadly, a watery one that couldn't last as she leaned into the brunette next to her. The older woman wrapped a tight arm around her lover's waist, sniffling softly.

"We will always have this house." The blonde looked up to Regina, a frown quickly appearing on her face.

"I know. I'm not selling it." She simply stated, rubbing the younger woman's side. Emma leaned her head in to rest against Regina's while she stared fondly at the house she had become so accustomed to. It was her home as well, and for some reason, she was glad that Regina wasn't going to sell it. She legally owned the house now, so she could do whatever she wished.

"Do you think we would ever come back?"

"Perhaps," Regina whispered. "If we wish to expand…" But she didn't complete her thought, letting it drift off into the humid air.

"What are you saying?" Emma blinked, turning to look at the brunette who immediately averted her gaze. She gave a coy smile, shaking her head.

"Nothing but mere fantasies."

"What are they?" The blonde released Regina from their side-embrace and stood in front of her, instead, reaching for the hands that hung absently at her sides.

"When we talked of children, it got me into a state of imagination. Such as us…" She laughed for a moment, nothing of humor, but more self-loathing. "If we were to get married, at some point in our lives. If you would ever wish to stay with me long enough for that to happen. And perhaps make a family and expand it."

"Oh…" Emma nodded slightly, squeezing the brunette's hands when she closed her eyes and shook her head quickly. "Hey… Hey, I would _love_ to stay with you, Gina. I could never imagine myself anywhere else, okay?"

"You're young, Emma. You have your life ahead of you, and once you see that and notice that I'm just an older woman weighing you down…"

"Regina Mills, I would marry you today, I would marry you tomorrow, and I would even marry you in fifty fucking years. Remember that." Emma brought the tawny hands up to her face and pressed soft kisses to the knuckles.

"You would..." Regina swallowed, heart thumping rapidly against her chest. "Marry me?"

"Of course!" The blonde grinned, leaning forward to press a sweet kiss to the older woman's lips. She was immediately gripped by strong arms that brought her closer for the shared moment, teeth nibbling on her lips and a hand squeezing her ass.

" _What_." The masculine voice broke the two of them apart, each hopping to opposite sides of the foyer with eyes as wide as saucers and cheeks red with blood.

"What, what? I thought you were going away?" Emma stared at her father, heart lost somewhere in her throat.

"Did I just hear you two get engaged?" He looked just as bewildered and mortified as the two.

"What? No!"

"I believe you walked in at the wrong time." Regina cleared her throat and smoothed down her already pristine shirt. "We were merely discussing marriage and Emma had-"

"I said that I would marry her because she didn't believe me. But we aren't, so don't you worry." The blonde shrugged, casting a sideways glance to the older woman who had a spark of sorrow in her eyes as if those words struck something deep.

"I mean… we aren't, right? Or… are we?"

"Wh- What?" Regina blinked at the question, her entire face had resembled that of a fire truck. "We… don't…."

"People can get engaged and don't have to be married right away." Emma shrugged, smiling softly. Wait a moment. What was she talking about? They were talking about _marriage_? Did she really volunteer to be engaged to Regina? It wasn't exactly a _bad_ thing. And she _did_ make a point. It wasn't like anything would necessarily change, right?

"Oh, honey, I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable. We can wait for the right time." Regina cooed, making her way toward the blonde. "It honestly means the world that you would consider marrying me."

"Why wouldn't I?" Emma tilted her head. "It would be an honor to call you my wife."

"Emma…" The blonde was engulfed in Regina's arms faster than she could ever make a single peep. It wasn't a problem, though. She enjoyed it. The smell of fresh linen and the faint scent of sweet apples clung to the sweaty T-shirt. This was one warmth she had no problem with.

" _Okay_ , I don't know what I walked into…" David murmured, reminding Emma that he was waiting on them. "But we should be hitting the road. I've still gotta pick my blanket up."

"Of course." Regina pulled from the blonde, grabbing her hand as she headed toward the door without a second look back at the house she was leaving behind. The three of them were back out into the hot, late afternoon sun for the last time that day.

Emma broke away from Regina to follow David to the driver's side of the moving truck, the question she had never got to ask burning hotly on her tongue. "Hey, David?"

"Yeah?" He turned to look at the blonde, a frown creasing his face.

"Can I ask you a crazy question?"

"Yes, I give you the blessing to marry whoever you want." He joked, but Emma merely rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn't care for you permission. I'd marry her even if you disapproved. But that's beside the point," she coughed, arms crossing over her chest and eyes falling to the ground. "What about Mary Margaret?"

"What _about_ Mary Margaret?"

"When should I tell her?" Emma lifted her gaze, lower lip disappearing into her mouth.

"Oh…" He sucked in a deep breath and whistled it out, a hand scratching the back of his head. "I don't know, Emma."

"Think we should tell her before we leave? She'll be alone for at least twenty-four hours to vent?" It was an offer, a silly one not meant to be taken seriously but David contemplated it.

"How would you tell her?"

"I don't know. That's the thing." Emma bit her lip, looking away. "See, I just wanted to do something to Regina and have her see so we didn't have to tell her, but Gina wants to flat out tell her."

"… Maybe it's not best to tell her just yet." David shook his head and turned to open the door to the truck.

"Yeah…" Emma giggled softly. "Well, I'll let you go off to do your thing. We're going to follow."

"See you on the other side." He nodded with a smile. "Love you, Emma."

"Love you, too." The blonde returned the smile before nodding as well and headed off to the Benz where Regina waited for her.

"What was that about?" The brunette flashed her girlfriend a playful smile.

"I was asking when he think would be the best time to tell Mary Margaret. Obviously not now." She chuckled her response and clicked on her seat belt as Regina shifted the gear to pull out of the driveway.

"I assumed just that." Regina took off down the street still wearing that smile on her face, though it had transformed into something wider. "We're leaving this town, Emma. We're actually moving."

"I know." Emma bit her lip to contain the squeal bubbling in her throat. "I never thought that when I moved into the Nolan's this would be happening. That I would run away to Boston with my high school English teacher."

That had earned a laugh from said teacher, the older woman shaking her head in response. "I had never imagined that I would fall in love with one of my high school students. It sounds wrong and _is_ wrong, but I simply cannot help it."

"I'm sorry. I just have that effect on people." Emma gave her a saucy little smirk, earning a playful dirty look in return.

"Emma." Regina clucked, pulling onto the street the Nolan's apartment was located. She parked across the street, leaving the space in front for David to nab with the truck.

"I know, Regina. Everything that happened to us… all of it. It's strange, but…" She shrugged, smiling softly. "I wouldn't have it any other way if it meant I couldn't be right here in this moment with you."

The brunette grinned as wide as she could manage and reached for the back of Emma's head, urging her closer. Silently, the blonde had obeyed and leaned in as commanded for her lips to be seized by Regina's in a passionate kiss that rekindled the one they had lost in the foyer. The blonde gasped softly, planting a hand on Regina's thigh as she attempted to get closer and deepened the kiss into something more.

The groan that had left Regina's lips was swallowed up by Emma's greedy mouth as if moved over the older woman's sweet ones. Olive fingers tugged at the blonde strands they were tangled in, forcing Emma's head to a position that allowed better access. Her little pink tongue slid across the thin, pink lips in a teasing gesture, the corners of her own mouth tugging into a smirk when this had earned a soft moan. The younger woman pressed closer, lips coming down upon the full ones; her hands finding purchase on the older woman's body, grabbing whatever she could to find ground.

"Emma," Regina murmured, placing a sloppy kiss to the corner of her mouth and continued forth, making her way down the ivory skin of her jaw.

The blonde panted into the hot air, her breath growing ragged the more Regina made her way across the palette of skin displayed before her. Emma's fingers dug painfully into the older woman's hip at the sensation patterned on her neck with that sweet mouth, tenderly nipping and sucking.

"Gina…" Emma gasped. She shifted from Regina's delicate teases to seek out her lips and soon found them with a hand keeping steady on her cheek.

"Wait…" The brunette pulled away far too soon, lips parted as she tried to regain her lost breath. "Do you think it's wise to be doing this out in the open?"

"Probably not." The blonde's cheeks heated to a perfect apple red as she had noticed exactly where they were. Poking her head up to peek outside, she had noticed the moving truck to be parked outside the apartment, empty.

Had David seen them?

"Wow…" Emma chuckled after a moment's silence, sitting back in her seat. "I can't believe we did that."

The older woman seemed to be mortified, yet the look of desire in her eyes had never died. "We would have completed that fantasy of yours if not for being in the middle of everyone's viewing pleasure."

"No shit." The blonde chuckled, looking back towards the apartment.

"We are going to be out of luck tonight."

"What do you mean?" Emma picked slide her phone out of her pocket, intent on messaging David how long he was going to be.

"If you wished to fool around tonight, it would be impossible with a houseful of people." The brunette simply stated.

"Not really." Emma shrugged. "We would have to be quiet, yeah. But we can still do it. It'll be risky, but wouldn't that be the most fun?"

"… I do suppose you are correct." Regina grinned, biting her lip at the thought.

"Dammit, what the hell, David?" The blonde opened a message from her father that had been sent minutes before she could have messaged him. That was one of several that had Emma nervous.

"What is it, dear?" Regina leaned over to look at the message displayed on the screen. "Oh, _great_."

"I suppose that's one less problem to worry about." Emma chuckled humorously, reading over the messages on the screen.

 _ **Mary Margaret knows. She saw you through the window in the loft. Next time, please refrain from making out with Regina in front of her. She's having a meltdown over what she saw.**_

 _ **At least I won't be here for the rest of it.**_

 _ **And neither will you.**_

 _ **Oh, and, one last thing:**_

 _ **I'll be out there in five.**_


End file.
